Foreverly
by KovatePrivalski97
Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series. Cover by Ringo-Tensai.
1. Prologue, or something like that

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

* * *

Prologue... or something like that. Meh.

* * *

I was never the most popular, the most graceful, the most talented guy, no. I never cared, either.

Growing up as the youngest of nine siblings didn't make the job any easier. 'Why so many children?', you may ask. 'Just ask my parents', I may answer.

My father, born and raised in India, had an unusual surname: Blain. It was unusual in those parts, and the story behind it didn't help much.

Mishka was his name, and he was born from the unholy union of his mother, native Indian, with his father, Canadian with an air of grandeur. That couldn't end well. And so it didn't.

Although completely despised about the notoriety and rumors he had won even before birth by his ethnicity, my father loved Canada. He loved his surname. He idolized his parents, both of them.

All without losing the love and respect for Indian culture, which he practiced with enthusiasm and pride every day of his life.

His marriage to my mother, Yalitza, was arranged from the very birth of both. And it was a bit difficult to arrange a marriage for Mishka Blain, the bastard child. But not impossible, and because of that, the world is blessed with my existence. And my siblings', but that doesn't really matter.

My brothers, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeriah, Josiah, Jonah, Zachariah and Jeremiah were born in India. After my parents moved once and for all to Canada, was born my sister Mariah. And finally, Noah.

You noticed that, right? Then I don't need to highlight it. Redundancies make me sick.

Back to my brothers, they all stood out for some reason. Zachariah, Jonah and Jeriah, were excellent athletes. Isaiah, Elijah, Josiah and Jeremiah, had formidable voices and a talent for musical instruments. Mariah cooked better than anyone, but that was probably all the cooking classes that my mother obligated her to take.

And Noah? Noah was a prodigy child.

Now, I'll stop referring to myself in third person. That makes me sound pretty stupid, and seriously, I can be called anything but 'stupid'.

I learned to read after my third birthday, and since then, I didn't stop. The first book I read was 'One Hundred Years of Solitude', at the age of five. And I understood it, from beginning to end.

It was not very talkative, and preferred to silence my opinions. My siblings always were silent about what they thought in front of our parents, and were discharged when they weren't present.

I used to write everything I couldn't say. And before some imbecile says 'Oh, diaries are for girls', I'll say 'No, dear Homo Erectus, that's a stereotype and misogynistic observation'.

Yes, I had a diary. However, I stopped writing on it when I was eight. I don't know why. I just stopped doing it.

This morning, checking the attic because my mother forced me (how else I would do something that requires physical effort?), I found it. My old diary.

I began to reread it, and laugh at the child I was. I mean, I used to believe that Santa Claus was real! With my high IQ, I still believed in that farce!

After the laughter, after reading the absurd scribbles that were my handwriting, came the inevitable moment of reflection.

I wondered 'Why did I stop writing, if I felt so free when I did?'. Nobody judged me, nobody pointed at me. It was just the pen, paper and me. Nobody else.

It was then that I looked for an unused notebook in my closet, and decided to write again. Twelve years after leaving that beautiful hobby, I decided to return.

It may be best to introduce myself 'officially' to you, in case by any remote situation I end up dying heroically and everyone wants to read my innermost thoughts. It worked for Anne, why not me?

My name is Noah Blain, and now, I'm 20 years old. I'm an outstanding college student, assisting to a university where not everything is as it seems... I'll explain that one later. I am moderately 'famous', much as I hate that word.

I participated in a popular reality show, and against all odds, I became a fan favorite. You would be surprised to know the amount of 'fangirls' who fantasize about me... thinking about it gives me chills.

I have only a few friends, and many enemies. Why? I don't know. Perhaps my open and cheerful personality repels other human beings. Meh. Why should it matter? I don't need them.

Many things happened in my life during that twelve years that I completely forgot to write. Too many things. I'll write them here. Why not?

So... I think that's all for now. I think I should finish my essay before midnight. Or before my roommate arrives with his girlfriend and kicks me out of here.

Whatever. Life hates me, I know. And I hate it in return.

* * *

Hello everyone.

I don't know how I started this. Really, I have no idea. I just started writing, and here we are now. I think I realized the enormous amount of fics about Noah, that are not exactly about Noah (?) No, I didn't understand that one either.

Anyway, I don't have much to say, really. Just thanks for giving it an opportunity, I'll try to continue it soon.

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome and will be answered in the next chapter.

I think that's it.

Ah, yes. Happy Valentine's Day. Do the world a favor and go hit happy couples on the head (?)

Anyway, I think that's all.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	2. The better best

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

* * *

The better best

* * *

I still remember my first day of preschool.

Preschool didn't call my attention or made me excited. Not even a little.

My mother, meanwhile, was really excited. She flicked me horribly, and dressed me ridiculously. It was a ritual by which my eight older siblings had already passed. They looked at me trying not to laugh, to which I only responded by growling.

I arrived at the establishment of her hand, being almost dragged. In case you were wondering, I never liked walking. I considered it, and still think the same, somewhat stressful. Just thinking about walking makes me tired...

... back to my first day of preschool, I have to say it was awful and I hated every second. Well, not every second. There were a few hours I didn't hate that much.

"Hello! Can I sit here, little buddy?!"

I remember that voice caused me some pain in the eardrums, to hear it almost directly in my ear.

When I turned around, I found a chubby boy... no, being completely honest, he was an obese kid. His blonde hair was longish, and his friendly smile almost made me gag.

"I don't see anyone here" I said, throwing an unnecessary look at the chair beside me. "Sit down if you want."

The boy let out a joyful exclamation that almost deafened me, and punished the poor chair with all his anatomy.

"I'm Owen Miller" he presented himself, breathing with some agitation. "And you are...?"

"Noah."

"That name is the better best!"

"It's actually 'the best'" I corrected, rolling my eyes with some frustration

Owen just giggled, and before he could punish me with another exaggerated cry, the teacher came to save my eardrums.

I thought I would hate Owen. I wanted to hate Owen. I tried to hate Owen with all my might.

But at the end of the day, I was being squeezed between his massive arms and feeling my bones complain.

"See you tomorrow, little buddy!" he exclaimed affectionately as I tried to breathe. Finally, he let me go. "You're the better best!"

I was going to correct him, but I was just regularizing my breath. I saw him run away as fast as his short legs allowed him, reaching with his mother and going away with her.

My mother walked up to me minutes later. I could see the curious stares of other parents, and children, because of her clothing. It wasn't common.

I hated the way they looked at her, like she was a weirdo. So I proudly took her hand and walked with her in front of everyone, telling her how was my day without her even asking.

My days in preschool were more of the same thereafter, actually. While my classmates were learning to read fluently and write their name on a single line, I entertained myself by reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

"No, Owen" our teacher usually corrected my 'friend', holding up the sheet on which he had written. "Your name doesn't need an 'H'... neither a '3'."

I used to laugh at those corrections, while traveling between the pages of my book. My peers used to look at me with suspicion and some curiosity. I didn't care.

The years passed, and I passed with them.

Owen never changed. His cheerful and optimistic personality contrasted with mine, and maybe that's why our friendship lasted in time.

Until we reached Grade 3[*]. Then, everything changed.

Owen told me that his father had gotten a better job in another county. One very far.

Back then, there was no Facebook, no Twitter, or anything like that. Only telephones, and what he used to say, his parents wanted to start their new life from scratch, that is, forget everything they left behind. And they wanted him to do the same.

His last few weeks in class, his mood change was evident. No longer he was laughing with each of my sarcastic comments, and neither ate lunch with the same enthusiasm. He looked sad, and as much as I hated to admit it, it saddened me.

His last day was the worst. I knew it was the last, when he came to school and just sat beside me, no hello, no nothing.

I didn't try to get conversation. He looked so miserable I felt afraid that anything I said would break him.

I didn't need to say anything for that to happen.

It was at the end of the day, while we were together walking out of our educational institute. Our mutual silence contrasted completely with the shouts and laughter of our peers, who ran out of the place, desperately.

Even in the disorder of children's voices, I could hear Owen sobbing quietly beside me. But I said nothing. I didn't know what to say.

Until I felt his arms close tightly around me for the last time, I didn't think I would miss him. I didn't think about how important my friend was to me. My best friend.

"I'll m-miss you, little buddy."

I couldn't help but smile a bit at his words.

With much effort, I managed to free my arms from the represented by his own, and circled his gigantic anatomy with them.

"And I'll miss you."

His crying intensified at that, so I could only sigh, slightly guilty.

I saw by the corner of my eye that his mother had come for him, but to see us that way, remained in place, waiting patiently with a rueful grimace on her face.

Owen pulled back, returning to my lungs the space they needed to keep me breathing. He wiped his tears with his hands awkwardly, and formed a small smile.

"When can I see you again?" he asked innocently, and for the first time in my life, I didn't know how to answer

I sighed deeply, and endeavored to form a convincing smile, though I'm sure I just got a grimace.

"Someday."

At the moment, I didn't know that I was completely right about that.

* * *

That wasn't the last time I saw Owen, obviously.

Eight years later, I was selected to participate in the first season of a reality show, 'Total Drama Island'. How I got permission from my parents to participate? Well, that's a story for another day.

Going back to what concerns us, I got there thinking that I would stay at a five star resort. Ha. Innocent me.

While waiting for the other contestants to arrive, I solved puzzles mentally. Actually I wasn't interested to know their names, I wasn't even interested in them. I was indifferent to their existence, and they were indifferent to mine.

Then right after the muscular and not-in-the-mood girl arrived (Eva, as I recall), we all heard a cry of exaggerated emotion.

I looked up, and... wait a minute, was that Owen?! Yep. It was him.

He had grown up, like, a lot. He was literally huge, and I wasn't surprised in the least that he hadn't lost weight. I could almost swear that the dock trembled before his arrival, and I watched in amazement as he squeezed the host in his arms.

When he finally came towards us, for a split second, our eyes connected... and shit, that's one gay way to say it, isn't it? What I mean is that, at that moment, an even bigger smile furrowed his face. I struggled to smile too, but I just got another grimace.

He didn't speak to me directly while we waited for the others. Either when the teams were assigned, and we ended up in the same. Neither at breakfast.

I had to wait till night, when our peers were sleeping and I hoped to tire my eyes with a copy of 'Pride and Prejudice'.

Well, not everyone was asleep.

"Hey, little buddy."

I couldn't help but smile. Really smile for the first time in a long, long time.

Sure, my smile faded when I was squeezed into his arms. I was so unaccustomed to that, time made me forget the stifling of his affection.

"Owen..." I managed to mumble with effort and using the air that remained in my lungs. "I c-can't breath..."

"Oops..." he whispered, finally letting go. "Sorry."

I knew he was sincerely sorry, but I still rolled my eyes with some exasperation. He chuckled.

"It's great to be here, huh?"

"Oh, yeah. 'Super' great."

Owen laughed again, giving me a couple of pats on the back that made me cough a bit.

"I missed you so much, man" he was being sincere, and I could almost that his eyes had a few tears of emotion. "I have much to tell you...!"

"I thought so, believe me" I sighed, closing my book with some regret while yawning. "But I think we'd better get some rest."

"Oh... you're right. You're the smartest!"

"Yeah... you know, maybe the others shouldn't know that we already knew each other" I could see his expression creeped at my words, so I hurried to continue. "It's purely strategic. If they get to know, they might think that we signed together on purpose and would try to eliminate us early to get rid of any alliance that could threaten them."

Owen was silent for a few minutes, while his brain probably processed my words slowly. Finally, he smiled widely.

"Yup! Sounds like a plan!" he cried, not caring that the other boys were sleeping in the same room. "You're the better best!"

"It's actually..."

"The best! Yeah, I remember now!"

At his voice, Trent shifted in his bed, and we dedicated him worried looks. He just scratched his butt and continued sleeping.

"I think I'll go to sleep now" Owen muttered, almost inaudibly. "Good night, little buddy."

"Good night, Owen."

That night, I slept soundly with a smile on my face. Because I had missed my friend. My best friend.

I'll say it now, and I'll never repeat it. Owen is the 'better best'.

* * *

Hello again.

First chapter, although technically it's the second one.

I always imagined that Noah and Owen's friendship transcended Total Drama, and this is my theory on that. Does this seem right?

Now, I'll answer your reviews.

Melanie Clark: Oh, I can't answer that question, sorry. No spoilers! Thank you! I hope his POV is good in this chapter too. Thanks for your review!

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Hey! Thank you. I thought this fandom needed more Noah... thanks for your review!

Thanks to those who commented, added to favorites and followed this story. Again, I will try to continue it soon, but I cannot promise anything.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	3. Short Fuse

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

* * *

Short Fuse

* * *

Owen wasn't the only person I met (and remember) from my days in elementary school.

I can also remember a girl. I won't say "She was my first love," or "I had a crush on her" because that would be a vicious lie. But I can remember her, pretty much.

She had curly and bright red hair. She always wore it loose, with a purple ribbon as her unique accessory. Her eyes were blue, and almost always they fixed on the ground, as she didn't dare to look up.

She came to our school when I was on Grade 4.

After Owen left, I was completely alone. I tried not to socialize with my peers, and that caused the teacher to call my parents several times for my 'antisocial' behavior, besides trying to send me urgently to a psychologist.

The girl had a name, and also a surname. However, she soon became known with a nickname: 'Short Fuse'.

You may think 'Oh, that's a very cute and adorable nickname'. Well, think twice.

Short Fuse was known for her temper. She used to react violently to verbal attacks, causing instead of fear, laughter. She seemed to calm down afterwards, and realize the situation.

She used to apologize a lot whenever she had reacted that way, but that only made her earn more teasing.

I never understood that. I analyzed it from every possible angle. I put myself in the place of the victim, and in the place of the perpetrators. But I never understood.

Why was it funny for them that she got easily annoyed? Why did she allow that to happen, without complaining? Why?

I had no idea. Back then, I didn't realize I was also a part of the bullying she suffered. Preferring to remain silent and concentrate on my notes, rather than trying to defend her or seek an adult who could put an end to the situation.

Just trying to think of anything else, to stop listening to their laughter and her crying.

Everything changed one day.

I think it was Monday, maybe Tuesday. It seemed a normal day in which classes proved to be just as boring as the day before.

Among my classmates, there were a couple of kids who were known as the classroom bullies: Avery and Dylan. They always made fun of everyone and everything, and as they were intimidating and brutal, no one dared to say a word.

They used to have Short Fuse in sight. She was always the main object of all their abuse. And that was unfair. Two against one. Two morons of industrial size against a short, thin girl. Yep, very unfair.

Long story short, that day Dylan and Avery continued their routine of teasing Short Fuse to get some reaction, to laugh for a while.

And they got a reaction. But more than laughter, it gave them tears.

Everything happened very quickly. I was pretty much away from the action, focused on my notes. Heard as background music their mocking exclamations. Until a sharp yell cut the air.

I looked up and there it was. Dylan had a pencil stuck in the palm of his right hand, which inevitably began to bleed. The terrified screams of my peers filled the room, while the teacher left her coffee and magazine to meet her injured student.

Departing from all, terrified, was Short Fuse. I could see in her eyes repentance, shame and guilt.

Our teacher didn't waste time and took Dylan to the nursery. As she just left the room, eyes turned at once to the redhead girl trying to stick as closely as possible to a corner of the room.

"What did you do?!" exclaimed Avery angrily, rising from his seat and heading toward her. "You're a monster!"

The cries of support were immediate, and within seconds, almost all chanted "Short Fuse is a monster!" at the top of their lungs.

All of them, but Short Fuse and me.

I don't know how or why, I chose that occasion to get up from my desk and steadily approach the trembling girl. I mean, I ignored her suffering for a long time, and at that moment, I decided that was enough.

Maybe you're wondering if I faced them and gave a morally correct speech on how wrong bullying was, right? If so, obviously you don't know me.

I just pulled her hand tightly, took a deep breath... and ran away. I ran, fearing they would chase us and beat us down.

But apparently they had been too surprised by my actions, because no one followed us. I stopped a few minutes later, crossing a corridor and breathing heavily.

Hell yeah, I hate running.

Still trying to breathe normally, I looked at her. She had a terrified expression, her blue eyes releasing a flood of tears that streamed down her rosy cheeks. Her hand squeezed mine, trembling.

"Are you okay?" I mumbled, a bit uncomfortable by her silence

She just nodded, looking away. I felt like letting her hand go, but as if reading my mind, she tightened her grip. I sighed.

"Why did you do that?"

"I don't know..." she whispered almost inaudibly, wiping a small tear with her free hand. "Aren't you afraid?"

I shook my head without thinking. Then, I thought. Was I afraid? The girl that squeezed my hand had hurt another child. She hadn't scratch him, nor had pushed him into the yard, nor had pulled his hair. She had hurt him.

And yet, I wasn't afraid.

Noting that my heart rate was going to its natural rhythm, I started walking, and by default, pulling her behind me. She remained silent, as if somehow she was afraid to say something.

After a few minutes, crossing another corridor, she finally found her voice.

"Where are we going?"

I suppressed a sigh and shrugged. I had no idea. I was just walking, perhaps looking for an adult to guide me, or some broom closet to leave her and return to class.

Then my analytical brain came to the logical conclusion.

"Principal's office" I said, without much interest. "He'll know what to do."

"He'll ground me."

'What did you expect?', I asked mentally, rolling my eyes. Receiving no response, Short Fuse was silent a little more, while squeezing my hand at all times.

I took a look at her, and empathy made its home on me. She was so short and thin, tiny would be the best word. How could anyone find empty fun by making her miserable?

Again, I didn't understand.

Finally we arrived at the office, the door bore a single word in superb calligraphy and in capital letters: 'PRINCIPAL'.

We stopped in front of the wooden door, and almost at the same time, we turned to each other. Again, her huge and watery eyes caused me some sadness.

"Um... you can stop crying now" I mumbled, just to say something. Really doubted my words. "You did nothing wrong."

"I hurt him..." she whispered, looking at me timidly

"He deserved it. He was being a... meanie."

I saved insults and my true thoughts to that imbecile with air instead of brain. For some reason, I thought I should not utter expletives in front of her.

Short Fuse sighed heavily and nodded, though obviously she was not at all convinced by my vague words of encouragement.

Her gaze fell, inevitably, to our joined hands. Slowly and carefully, as if she was deactivating a time bomb, she dropped my hand and hid hers and behind her back quickly.

I raised my hand to knock the door with my knuckles, but stopped halfway. I turned to look down at her, forming a tiny and almost imperceptible smile.

"Everything will be fine, Nirvana."

At the time, I could see her blue eyes lit up as she listened to me. That should be the first time anyone at school, in addition to the teacher, called her by her real name.

Short Fuse... Nirvana gave me a friendly smile, and a nod of recognition.

"Thank you, Noah."

I knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, it opened. The stocky, bald man who officiated as principal poked hie anatomy, and looked at us curiously.

"Kids?" he snapped, somewhat poorly-concealed sneer. "What are you doing here?"

"I did something wrong, sir" said the girl next to me just before I could speak. "Noah brought me here, nothing more."

Our principal looked at Nirvana first, eyebrows raised, and then he looked at me. He grimaced and shrugged.

"All right... you can go back to class, Byrnes."

"It's Blain."

"Yes, that's what I said."

I rolled my eyes at the painful demonstration of incompetence from the only adult present, turning around to retire as quickly as possible.

However, I couldn't help looking back once. Nirvana sweetly smiled at me, gratefully. I made an effort to return the gesture, but probably she didn't see me as the office door was closed the next second.

That was the last time I saw her in a long time. I spent several months questioning the situation. What had led her to such extreme reaction? Why did she disappear from my life so fast? What had happened to her?

I had to wait ten years to find out. I didn't expect to ever see her, but I am delighted that we have crossed our ways again after so long.

On the other hand, that's a story for another day. Right now I'm struggling to keep my eyes open and not yield to the temptation to sleep peacefully.

I think it's time to turn off my lamp. My roommate starts to get mad. Ha. He deserves it.

* * *

Hello, again.

Second chapter, although technically it's the third one.

In case you hadn't noticed: yes, Nirvana is an OC, she doesn't belong to canon. One question, did anyone caught the reference that was repeated throughout the chapter? If so... congratulations. You're awesome! (?)

Now, I'll answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thank you. I know, right? Noah had a heart too! I hope you liked this chapter.

The Abysswalker: Hey. I'm glad you liked it. Well, he meant that there was no Facebook, neither Twitter when they were kids. Now he's 20 years old, and those things exist. I hope I made it clear, but if not, please tell me! Hope you liked this.

Melanie Clark: Yeah, my first language is Spanish. ¡Hola! Well, I hope you like them both... they're almost the same. Podría decir que este capítulo es una pista... ¡ahora lo sabes! I hope you liked this chapter. See you later!

I guess that's all. I'll try to continue soon.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	4. NOco

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

* * *

NOco

* * *

One of the many disadvantages of being 'famous', are the fans.

There are all kinds of them.

Among them, are the 'Sierra 2.0' type, mostly 'fangirls' who know you better than you know yourself, and to complete the picture, they want to marry you and everything.

Then there are the 'I wanna be famous' type, those who come to try to get important contacts as directors and others, to participate in a possible new season of the show.

But without doubt, the worst and most abundant are the 'Level Five Shippers'. Pairing together everything that produces shade. EVERYTHING.

I never got too interested on the 'fandom' to which I belong. I mean, why would I care? However, one day, out of curiosity I decided to search my name in Google... big mistake.

Besides visiting my profile on Total Drama Wiki, I discovered a side of the Internet that I didn't know.

'Fanfic'. 'Fanart'. 'OTP'. 'Canon and Fanon'... everything was a jumble of words I didn't understand, strange emoticons and other disturbing things.

Within this hell made of 'feels' and 'shipping', I found a little story (or fanfic) that caught my attention with its poor spelling. It went something like this:

'noah and cody have a date and will them be moar then friends? hehehe bad summery leave review plz!1!'

You might think 'That kind of story must have no readers!'. Let me laugh at your innocence. That story had five chapters, less than a thousand words each, along with thirty-five comments, and the same pattern was repeated.

'continue plz!'

'Its great lol very romantic'

'theyve to make out NOOOW!'

And so on, mercilessly tearing my eyes with their poor grammar and obvious lack of neurons.

Worst of all, was that the 'fandom' was full of such stories. And not only was NoCo, also made appearance other 'ships' that had, like the aforementioned, no basis in reality.

That didn't bother me too much at the time. They were fans that filled their miserable lives imagining impossible stories with their favourite 'characters' completely forgetting that they are real people.

So I forgot about the matter for a while. But of course, life can't leave me alone. It decided it would be good idea to give me a memento.

It happened on a Sunday afternoon, when I decided to hang out with Cody because I had nothing better to do. He had bought the last game of a very respected franchise, and hell yeah, I wanted to try it.

I couldn't say that Cody was my best friend or something cheesy like that, but we were pretty close, so it didn't bother me to spend my time with him.

"No... no, no, no, no! Not again!"

Cody laughed at my frustrated exclamation. I was losing. For the tenth time, more specifically. And although I was good at video games, I couldn't beat Cody.

"You can't beat me, man!" he exclaimed, raising his control to the air in a gesture of victory. "You're doomed!"

"Whatever" I muttered, rolling my eyes. "I'm just letting you win, so..."

"Yeah, right!"

The game was finished with my character being brutally murdered. Perfect. However, it surprised me a bit that Cody wouldn't start a new game.

I looked at him, and noticed that in his face was an expression full concentration, as if contemplating the meaning of life.

I decided not to interrupt. I hated to be startled me when my neurons are doing synapses (which is constant), so I decided to respect his space.

"Noah?"

"That's my name, don't overuse it."

Cody chuckled loudly, and completely turned to me on the couch.

"Dude, we have to talk" he said solemnly, and I had to force myself to look at him to see his serious expression. "I have been researching our fandom, and..."

"I don't like where this is going."

"... and I discovered NoCo."

A small silence was formed at that. Not that I couldn't speak, I didn't want to. I didn't understand. What did he expected me to say?

'Oh, great. Congratulations, do you want me to clap?'

"Ugh..."

"What does 'Ugh' mean, exactly?" he questioned then, arching his eyebrows

"'Ugh' means 'Ugh, do you really want to talk about it?'" I muttered, quite exasperated. "Personally, I decided to ignore it."

"Me too, but ... it's annoying. The other day I was walking quietly until a fan walked up to me. She asked me which one of us was on top..."

"Ugh... now it means 'Ugh, what a way to waste a life'."

Cody nodded solemnly at my words, but after a moment, his face took on a questioning expression.

"Why did you kiss my ear, Noah?" he asked them, apparently with sincere curiosity in his expression. "If you hadn't done that, perhaps there wouldn't be so many crazy fans who..."

"Wait, wait, wait!" I interrupted, totally incredulous at his accusation. "Are you blaming me for this?"

"Well... yeah?"

I growled. I dropped the game control and crossed my arms indignantly. I mean, really?

Was he blaming me for a completely involuntary act, years ago? Yes, he was.

"Cody, this is ridiculous..."

"You're not answering my question."

"There's no answer! I was sleeping, it was unintentional!" I exclaimed, completely exasperated. "Maybe I was dreaming, I don't know, that I finally met Dumbledore and kissed his little toe!"

"Ew!" he cried, disgusted by the mental image. Then, in a more relaxed tone, he added. "Did you know that Dumbledore was gay?"

"Meh!"

Again I cross my arms, with a little more force. The situation was getting my completely tired. Cody seemed to notice, because he grimaced and cleared his throat.

"One last question...?"

"If I respond, can we forget about this?" I blurted, looking at him with raised eyebrows. He nodded. "All right. Spit it out."

"Okay..." he sighed, as if his questioning was of philosophical caliber. If one day you and I are, you know, walking around and suddenly we're approached by a fan and... she ask us for some 'NoCo fanservice'. Would you do it? For money, maybe?"

I was silent, staring at him with a bored expression. I didn't know what the hell was 'fanservice' but I suspected it was not good.

"I'll take that as a no..."

"Dude, are you blushing?" I asked, watching her cheeks redden even more. "Really, Cody?!"

"Leave me alone! This is awkward!"

"YOU started to talk about this, my friend."

Cody groaned, rolling his eyes. He settled back on the couch to be in front of the TV. Our game was yet to begin.

He glanced at me with a grin, before taking his control and giving start a new game.

"Son of a...!"

His laughter interrupted my insult, as I took my own control quickly so as not to lose again.

Now, before I go to take a shower (I needed it, I can't even stand my own body scent) I will clarify a couple of things, for posterity.

Number one, I am NOT gay. Or bisexual. Neither pansexual. Or transgender. Neither Drag Queen. Let alone a girl (yes, to those who love to write stories about me being 'pregnant', I'm speaking to you). No. I'm heterosexual. I'm a boy.

Number two, I'm not homophobic. I respect every sexual orientation and I demand that you respect mine. It's not a benefit, it's a right.

Number three, 'I' is always written on capital letter. Same goes for names. Small numbers are written with letters. Men can't get pregnant (yes, to those who love to write stories about me being 'pregnant', I'm speaking to you again).

Number four, did you know that if you try to lick your elbow, you can't do it? Curse Darwin.

Number five, please, stop bothering. Because that's what you do, when your brains infected with 'fanfics' and 'fanarts' say otherwise. You. Are. Bothering.

What is the desire to find couples where there are none? And I not only speak of NoCo, no. I also talk about Notie, Nawn, Nizzy, and a huge list of other couples without rhyme or reason.

I've hardly spoken to Katie, and can't stand her. Someone who shares her brain with someone else doesn't deserve my attention. In addition to that, obviously, she isn't and will never be interested in me. I lack a six-pack and pearl teeth for that, thank you.

Dawn. I've seen her only a few times, in the university's halls (I'll explain later, I said), and honestly, I don't even find her interesting. I mean, can she read auras? Really? Then she should read this: 'No. Never. Nunca.'

Izzy. This is simply cruelty. What did I do to you for you that match me with that mad as a hatter? Do you really think I would take seriously a person with which, most of the time, I cannot hold a coherent conversation? No. She's also my best friend's ex. Double no.

And then, within that brief 'etcetera' would be Heather Alejandro, Duncan, Gwen, Courtney, Eva, Sierra, Trent, Bridgette, Staci (yes, I couldn't believe it when I read it), and others who sincerely I don't want to bother to remember.

It's... stupid. I think that's the word.

However, the 'ship' that bothers me the most, is NoCo.

Cody is my friend. We meet often to play video games, or we connect to play online games. Sometimes we go out to have fun with some other friends. We talk. We laugh. We are friends.

But the discomfort is always present. In public we can't stand next to each other or sit together, or talk too much, or anything. There's always a fan who starts screaming as if she's getting stabbed, pointing at us and 'fangirling'.

Is it necessary? Is it necessary to bother people like that? Is it necessary to write so many stories poor in content, grammar, spelling, syntax and a lot of other things? I don't think so.

So I tell you today, tomorrow and forever.

NO to NoCo!

NOco!

* * *

Hello everyone.

Personally, I think that NoCo is a good pairing if it's well written. And by that, I mean: the characters stay in their personalities, the plot makes sense and isn't cliché, and so on.

Otherwise, my respect to any NoCo shipper reading this. I don't ship the couple, but I've read some good and interesting fics about them.

On the other couples mentioned... yeah. Not much to say about them.

Now, I will answer your reviews.

Melanie Clark: ¡Hola! Respondiendo otra vez xD Lo sé, Nirvana ha sufrido... y ya sabes, me alegra que ella te agrade. See you! *u*/

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Hey! Thank you. Hehehe, I thought so! I hope you liked the character, and this chapter!

The Abysswalker: Well, I'm glad you liked it. Even when you don't have much to say, I always wait for your review. Seriously! I appreciate you honest opinions :)

So... I guess that's all for now.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	5. The worse worst

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

* * *

The worse worst

* * *

Okay, before I start scribbling on this page, I must make a serious warning to whoever is reading this.

What you are about to read is the most ridiculous, unbelievable and stupid thing you'll ever read. Something with these characteristics, can only be the work of one of the greatest sinister minds in the history of mankind: Chris McLean.

That said, whoever you are, if you decide to continue reading it'll be under your responsibility. You've been warned.

Now it's time to talk about my university. I said I would talk about it, right? I will fulfill that.

I won't say the name of the institution, not to discredit it any more than necessary. Any university that accepts dirty business doesn't even deserve to be mentioned.

I arrived here a year and three months ago. The first time I visited the place, for my registration and recognition around, I found a nice environment, conducive to education. I was dead wrong!

When I had to settle in, my father took me to the entrance of the enclosure, and dismissed me with a hug before fleeing... I mean, get in the car and leave me.

I dragged my suitcases with difficulty and an expression of fatigue in my face. I had to find my fucking room, and I was sure that it was quite far from my current position.

And that's when things got weird.

In the distance, I saw sideways a tall, thin blonde, with an enviable figure. You may think that there is nothing weird in that. Well, it's weird if the blonde approaches a statue of one of the founders and asks if it's Tyler. Yes. Exactly.

Obviously I didn't expect to see Lindsay there. However, while she didn't recognize me, everything would be fine. 'This university is huge' I thought with a smirk, 'It's clearly just a fluke...'

And I would have remained convinced about that, but for a few tiny details.

Number one, Katie and Sadie entered the university, hand in hand and giggling.

Number two, a guy I recognized as Mike from season four arrived on the scene with his girlfriend, the redhead who's-name-I-can't-remember.

And number three, suddenly I couldn't breathe because I was lifted into the air while someone squeezed my chest.

"Noah, buddy! Long time no see!"

I let out a desperate breath, waiting for him to finally decide to let go. When he did, I had to cough a few times before looking at him with some surprise mixed with reproach.

"O-Owen...?"

"It's great, isn't it?!" he exclaimed with a huge smile on his face. "We are all here!"

What. The. Hell. Was. Happening?

That's what I asked my friend, and he let out a hearty laugh at my disbelief.

"You didn't notice yet?" he asked unnecessarily, because it was obvious that I didn't notice anything. "Oh, it's wonderful! Chris is a genius!"

Chris.

That name, could leave me blank at the moment. Chris was the name of evil. Chris was the name of hate. Chris was a bastard.

Owen looked at my blank expression, and with a shrug, he took my suitcases with ease and led the way into the university.

I wanted to ask him how he knew where my room was, but I refrained. Anyway I was too absorbed to speak.

Walking through the halls, other well known faces were present, all in their own affairs.

LeShawna. Harold. Ezekiel. Dawn. Sam and his girlfriend with green hair and red eyes (that was weird). Courtney. Gwen.

All of them shared my confused expression, especially Courtney. She also seemed frustrated and about to explode.

As we walked the halls to my room, and Owen cheerfully greeted everyone, I was looking for a logical answer to that situation.

I was wasting my time, because there was no logical answer, and I would soon find out.

"Here it is!"

Hearing Owen's exclamation, I had to force myself to pay attention again. I noticed the room across from me, and I felt it was a bit small but enough for two people who didn't want to speak to each other.

In bed on the left, there were a couple of suitcases resting. On a label, I managed to read the letters 'A.B.', but I didn't pay much attention to that.

"Owen" I called seriously, noting that he had begun to chatter again. "You have to tell me what's going on."

"Oh, yeah... where is your contract?"

"My contract? What contract?"

"You know, the Total Drama contract!"

I watched him with a look of utter disbelief, before face-palming in frustration.

"I don't have that contract with me" I muttered, looking at him with an arched eyebrow. "Who would carry that contract all the time?"

"Me!" he cried, with the same enthusiasm as ever. "But... where is it now?"

I watched Owen look for it in his pockets desperately. I crossed my arms, and unconsciously began to tap the floor with my foot in sign of impatience.

Finally he squealed with excitement, and pulled out a crumpled paper from the back pocket of his pants. He approached one of the two night tables, and put the paper on it straighten it again.

I walked over to see better, with skepticism painted in my eyes. I mean, obviously I suspected that this had to do with Total Drama, and that jerk McLean, but I still couldn't believe it.

"All right... how was what Izzy did?" Owen muttered to himself as he watched the paper in total concentration. "Oh, yes!"

Then he began to fold paper in different ways. It seemed like origami, honestly. Every so often he reproved himself with an exaggerated 'No', folding again.

What about me? I understood less than before.

"Owen...?"

"Little buddy, shut it... I'm almost done!"

And he was done.

In the end, the contract had been reduced to something like a presentation card, with small letters in it.

I took the paper and put it near my face to read better. The letters were composed of all the words in the contract, strategically placed.

What did it say? Basically, that all contestants of Total Drama accepted by signing that contract that they would finish their tertiary education in the same educational institute.

I had to read it again, to see if my eyes and my brain were playing a trick. Then again. And again. Until finally I realized that I had read correctly.

Chris McLean controlled our lives. Since we made the stupid mistake of signing that damn contract. I understood perfectly why Courtney looked so frustrated. Surely she hadn't found anything illegal in that clause.

"Chris is a son of a bitch."

It was all I could say before giving him the contract, with contempt. The truth was that I wanted to shred it into pieces.

"An awesome son of a bitch?" ventured Owen, but my glare managed to calm his spirit. "Sorry, buddy... I thought you'd be glad."

"Glad? Why would I be glad?" I blurted, my brow furrowed right away. "Chris McLean controls our lives! He's forcing us to study in the same place! Doesn't that bother you, not even a little?!"

"Nope... 'cause I love my friends."

Seeing Owen's hurt expression, I sighed heavily. I facepalmed again in frustration.

"Sorry, Owen, I didn't mean to yell at you" I mumbled, trying to sound calmer. "It's just that... this is wrong. This is wrong on so many levels."

I noticed that he was going to say something else, but then someone else entered the room. The last person I expected to see at that time and in that place.

"Vaya... then you're my roommate?"

I looked perplexed at the young man in front of me. It was Alejandro.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" I hissed, looking at him with narrowed eyes. "Do me a favor and get out of my room."

"Didn't you hear me? This is my room too" he said, with a wry smile on his face. "Come on, amigo..."

"I'm not your 'amigo'."

"I can be your 'amigo', Al!" offered Owen, but he received from him a murderous glare. "I mean, Alejandro..."

The aforementioned sighed, kinda frustrated, and then gave him a fake smile. He turned to me, holding out his hand in greeting.

"Noah, I know you played a trick on you... many years ago" he began his speech with a sickly smile and calm voice. "But we were in a competition, for a lot of money... this is 'real life'. We don't lose anything trying to get along, especially if we're sharing a room."

I gave him a glare. Aha. Did he really expect me to swallow that story? I knew that he was just a slimy eel, ready to attack me.

"As long as you keep yourself out of my way, I don't mind your presence here" I mumbled, refusing to shake his hand. "As you know, I'm not someone who easily forgives."

Alejandro just laughed under his breath and shrugged.

"As you wish, my friend. I tried."

He didn't try for a long time, I should say. His facade of kindness maintained for the first few days, until he began to arrive in the night with Heather.

No need for them to throw me away, I preferred to leave. I mean... no. Just no.

So, long story short, Alejandro Burromuerto is sleeping in the next bed as I write these words.

Perhaps you have noticed that I usually write at night... when I should be sleeping. But it's the only time I'm free, and... meh. Lately writing has become usual for me.

I think I find it harder to sleep if I don't write, at least for a while. Anyway... enough for today. Exams won't get done alone (wouldn't it be great if they did?).

* * *

Hi!

I know it took me a while to update, but I had some problems with my internet connection. Now everything is better.

About the chapter, I can only say that there is a reason that Chris has put that clause in the contract. There is an explanation for that, and I would dare to think that nobody could guess what it is.

Anyway, I think it'll take a while for that to come clear.

So, now I will answer your reviews.

The Abysswalker: Thank you. I don't get it either, actually. I'm a yaoi/slash enthusiast, but I don't try to find "hints" where there isn't any. I know, it must be stressful to deal with crazy fans all the time. And yeah. Fans might need a lesson or two.

A Ghost That Nobody Sees: I respect everyone's opinions, as I like people to respect mine. I don't ship NoCo, but I have read a few good fanfics about them. I mostly like them as friends.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thanks! I'm tolerant about that, too. I'm bisexual, and sometimes I have to face that hate by myself. It's not pretty. Anyway, thanks again. I'm glad I'm getting Noah right.

Ali6132: Thank you! I don't ship NoCo, neither Nizzy but I think you're right. They're crack pairings, anyway. Bye!

MyNameDontMatter: Thanks a lot. I feel really flattered about your words, seriously. Also, I always do my best for my English to be good, and it makes me happy to know that it is! So thank you again!

Now, with nothing left to say, this humble writer is leaving.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	6. Cinderhella243

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

* * *

Cinderhella243

* * *

I was always a big fan of RPGs online.

Since I discovered them at a fairly early age, I was intrigued. I think somehow I liked the idea of talking to other people, being just a character.

They heard my voice without a face to provide it.

That was fun for a while, where I became an excellent player for each game I discovered, using tricks that probably not even the game's creators knew.

My username has always been SarcasmKing202 in each account for each game. Of course, sometimes I created additional accounts, but the principal one always had that name.

One of the games I most often visited, and I better dominated, was Underground Alliance. It was the first game I discovered, and it had a special place in my heart, as cheesy as that sounds.

It became even more special when one of the players caught my attention. She was almost excellent, and defeated everyone around her. Except me.

I was fifteen years old, and I didn't hesitate to challenge that talented player as often as I could. She gave fight, but always ended up losing every match.

It may sound selfish, but I didn't challenge that player just to see her lose. I did it to see if at some point, she would answer my dialogues.

I tried to greet her, yell at her, even insult her. But she never responded, so I didn't know her voice.

Until I finally proposed her an alliance. And after waiting patiently, walking in circles across my room like a caged lion, the notification finally arrived.

'Cinderhella243 has accepted your alliance.'

At the time, almost instantly, I also tried to have a conversation via TeamSpeak.

After a few minutes of silence, I finally heard her voice. By her username, I had already imagined she would be a girl, but the soft and sweet voice I heard took me off guard.

"Hey...?"

That's what she said, and since then, that has been the voice I hear every night for more than five years.

Cinderhella243 turned out to be a fourteen years old girl, who played Underground Alliance when she got home from high school. She lived in a distant county, but actually, she never seemed interested in meeting me personally.

When I tried to get her to give me her Facebook profile, she refused. In fact, she refused to tell me her name. I was forced to call her Cinderhella.

Nevertheless, we know each other better than anyone. 'Cause yeah, we are still talking.

We lost touch when I participated in 'Total Drama Island' and then 'World Tour' but when we spoke again, it was as if time hadn't passed.

Cinderhella grew up with me, and I grew up with her. That was a pretty unfair relationship, considering that she knew my name and had seen me on television, while I didn't know her name or appearance.

I never missed an opportunity to remind her about that.

"You know what day it is, right?"

To my question, she just gave a mischievous giggle, which I could hear through the headphones in my ears using TeamSpeak.

"Today is Thursday, as far as I remember" she responded with a mocking tone

"You also know what I mean" I muttered, rolling my eyes even when she couldn't see me. "Today marks..."

"... five years since our first conversation. I didn't thought you'd remember."

Me neither, actually. She was the one who always remembered that date, and used to pretend to be angry when I didn't. This year I made sure to remember it, to take the lead.

"Yes, I remembered" I pointed out unnecessarily, accusingly while accommodating my receiver. "Five years, Cinderhella, and I don't even know your name."

"I already told you, it's an awful name" she replied dryly, and I could imagine her rolling her eyes. "And you don't need to know it."

"Of course I need to know! It's unfair that you know my name, and I..."

"It's not my fault that you participated in that show, so that it could recognize your voice and see you, honey."

"Touché."

Cinderhella laughed again, and I couldn't help it, a smile appeared on my face at the sound.

"Please" I asked, almost desperately. "And seriously, I almost never say that 'magic word'."

"Noah... we already talked about it."

Yes, we already talked about it.

Cinderhella was quite shy in 'real life'. She told me that she didn't have many friends and it was hard for her to socialize.

And she thought that our... friendship? We will call it that way for now. Anyway, she thought that our friendship had endured for so long thanks to the fact that I didn't know her face or her name.

I thought that if I couldn't give a face to that angelic voice, I would explode.

"At least tell me your name" I insisted, starting to aggravate a little. Hearing her chuckle, I sighed. "How about your hair colour? Eyes colour? Anything?"

"I did my nails today, and used purple polish" she replied, almost mockingly, and in my state of despair that sounded like revelation. "My sweatshirt is purple, too, and has a cross-eyed cat printed on it."

"A cross-eyed cat? What colour is the cat?"

"Noah, please!"

I tried to get angry with her, cut off the communication and get to work on my essay for the next day. But she gave another mischievous giggle, and my anger just ran away.

I couldn't be angry with her.

She was with me when my first Golden Retriever, O'Hara, died. I was with her when her aunt committed suicide.

She was with me when I felt that my life had no meaning. I was with her when she needed to be reminded how much she was worth.

And although I didn't know her name or the color of her eyes or the shape of her face, I knew her. Better than anyone.

I spent whole nights trying to give a face, a body, to her voice. But nothing I imagined seemed to be enough. She was difficult to idealize. She was impossible to idealize, actually.

Cinderhella243 was the closest thing to a girlfriend I ever had in my life. She was the only person I had felt something similar to what everyone called 'love'. But I didn't like to call it that way. I didn't like to call it in any way.

I thought that putting it a label would be tantamount to giving it an expiration date.

And I hoped to see her, albeit once, before it was all over. Because everything ends, right?

Part of me, the illogical and stupid part, hoped this would be forever. The other, the one that knew life and the kind of bitch it could could be, just reminded me to keep my feet on the ground.

At her silence on the line, I heard a couple of knocks on my room's door.

"Noah, amigo, make yourself presentable 'cause we're going in!"

I sighed. My peace was over, apparently. Alejandro was already there, and I heard some laughs that surely belonged to his sweet and adorable girlfriend Heather.

"All right, Cinderhella, I must go" I mumbled with a grin that she couldn't see, but hear. "My roommate just arrived, and brings his pet with him."

"Oh, that's so cute" she replied with an irresistible sarcastic tone. "A chihuahua, I guess. Will he rub her belly?"

"Well, he'll rub something else..."

"Noah!"

I couldn't help laughing out loud to hear her embarrassed tone. I cleared my throat before speaking.

"Last chance to..."

"Good night, Noah."

I sighed heavily. I wasn't going to get it tonight, but damn it, I would get it. I was sure. And I was right.

"Good night... Cinderhella."

* * *

Hey.

First of all, if you're wondering who Cinderhella243 is, I recommend you to visit the Total Drama: World Tour contestants' interviews. Do you recognize anything in Noah's interview? Yep. I thought so.

As for Noah's username, SarcasmKing202, I give the credits to Foreseer44, author of the amazing one-shot "A Different Kind of Quest", featuring Noah and Scarlett at their best. Seriously, you should read it.

Now, I'll answer your reviews.

Ali6132: Thank you so much. Poor Noah's nightmares have just begun, believe me. Thank you again, I hope you liked this chapter. Bye!

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Heh, I guess he is. Thank you. That's an interesting theory we'll see if you're right or not. Muchas gracias.

The Abysswalker: Yeah, Chris. Well, Alejandro is one sexy beast, but not for Noah, right? I know. It's good to read really carefully before signing anything. Till next time!

Well, I guess that's all. This Monday, High School starts here in my country. It might take me a while to update. I'll do my best to keep updating.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	7. Apartment 48

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

* * *

Apartment 48

* * *

I usually didn't like to watch the new seasons of Total Drama.

They seemed to be more of the same, honestly. I watched the premiere of 'Revenge of the Island', and couldn't watch anymore. It was like... no.

And 'All Stars'... 'All Screwed', I would say.

Then they announced the second part of season five, in a new island, with a new cast. It sounded promising, I admit.

So I began to watch it. And unlike other seasons in which I wasn't involved, I found this one interesting. Even entertaining.

From the beginning, Scarlett caught my attention in a positive way. I found her pleasing to the eye, and also her interactions with that purple garden dwarf were hilarious.

Sure, I didn't expect the total 180 degrees turn that she would take in episode ten. And, although she gave several signs on her visits to the confessional, I never thought that she would be a potential psychopath.

But she was, and after threatening to kill every living being on Pahkitew Island if they didn't hand her the million dollars, she became the most eliminated one in Total Drama.

I don't know if it's a title worthy of pride, but hey, it's a merit.

I didn't think I would ever see that maniac again. I was wrong.

I don't recall mentioning it, but in the evenings, I've been working in a library near my University. Why? Because books, food, clothing, and especially books (yes, twice) don't pay for themselves.

That work was heaven. I spent my time sitting quietly, reading what I had at hand. Because come on, it's a library, what else could I do?

Sometimes I had to leave my comfortable swivel chair and my reading to guide a client, but most of the time girls came asking for the 'Sparkling Vampires Diaries', so I just pointed to that section with some feeling of disgust.

In other words, I was being paid for doing practically nothing.

Back to the maniac, an afternoon in which I entertained myself by reading the same book for the thirteenth time, she appeared in the library.

When she cleared her throat to get my attention, and I looked at her, at first I couldn't believe it was her. I furrowed my brow slightly, somewhat confused.

"Can I help you, lady?"

"Yes, you can. I have a proposal which, to my knowledge in statistical probability, you can't refuse" she said, with an indifferent expression and monotone voice. "As has come to my knowledge, you share a room in our university with an individual who is not your complete satisfaction, so..."

"Stop it right there" I mumbled, earning her frowning at the interruption. "Our university?"

"Precisely."

I blinked several times, to make clear my growing confusion. I closed my book with regret, to devote her all my attention.

"Excuse me, but I honestly had no idea that we assisted to the same University..."

"Taking note that we are all obliged to attend the same college with a hidden clause in the contract, plus the fact that suing Chris McLean is a waste of time due to his monetary influence on 'justice', I had no option."

"No, I don't mean that" I muttered, rolling my eyes. "I mean, aren't you too young to be in college?"

Scarlett raised an eyebrow to understand my point, and after a moment, gave a discreet laughter.

"Let me laugh at your ignorance" she said, and I could feel my brow frown automatically. "After the complaints received by the risks to which were subjected twenty-four minors in seasons one, two and three of Total Drama, Chris McLean decided not to risk it again, so the following seasons were conducted with adults, without the innocent public knowledge, obviously."

I raised an eyebrow at that. That sounded pretty logical, coming from the sneaky rat that lived from hosting shitty reality shows. I sighed.

"Very well, now that we have solved the mystery" I mumbled, shrugging indifferently. "What is the proposal that 'most likely' I won't refuse?"

"It's very simple, actually. I am renting a small apartment a few blocks from here, and I can no longer keep up with the rent. After analyzing the situation thoroughly, I decided that you are the most suitable individual to live with" she summed then, and although I wanted to ask what had she based this analysis, she continued. "Two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathroom and a view to a Starbucks Coffee Shop."

"You got me with the Starbucks thing."

Scarlett smiled, or maybe it was just a mischievous grin. She held out a small card, and sighed.

"Think about it" she muttered, shrugging. "And let me know before Saturday. Don't send messages, and don't call if it's not about business. That is all."

I saw her turn around and retreat from the property with elegant and purposeful stride. Grimacing, I looked down at the card.

The name 'Scarlett Stone' and a phone number in serious and professional calligraphy received me.

* * *

"So... will you go to live with her?"

Cinderhella's slightly annoyed tone in my headphones took me unaware while trying to finish my philosophy essay. I smiled a little.

"Are you jealous, perhaps?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. "You can say with confidence..."

"Do I have a reason to be jealous?" she muttered, sighing. "Besides... meh, whatever."

I couldn't help but laugh a little at that. She sounded really sweet when she was angry.

"Hey, I'm not interested in her that way. You know, because she's a psychopath and all" I sputtered, as if what I had just said wasn't important. "Besides... you know I'm not interested in anyone else."

I heard her giggle for a moment, and I could imagine her cheeks blushed violently. She sighed.

"Well... although I cannot help thinking that maybe it's not a good idea. For your safety" she quickly added, and I heard genuine concern in her voice. "I mean, if she tried to blow up an island and the people who inhabited it, why wouldn't she hurt you?"

"Honey, I never said I would accept..."

Just then, as I finished writing the word 'methodical' in my essay, the door to my room opened abruptly.

I didn't even have time to startle or cry out, Heather came quickly carrying a wobbly Alejandro.

"I'll leave him here, okay?" she snapped casually, and dropped him carelessly over his bed. "He's a little drunk, make sure he doesn't vomit and choke... ew."

She grimaced, apparently disgusted by her own mental image. Almost as if planned, Alejandro straightened a bit and emptied the contents of his stomach on the floor before returning to lie down.

Heather gave a horrified gasp, while I could only wince. Great. There went my new carpet.

"I'm out of here. Take care of him or whatever."

And with those wise words of encouragement, Heather left the room as quickly as she came in, without even bothering to close the door.

I glanced at the slimy eel, and he just let out a loud and annoying snoring, with a smile of satisfaction.

"Noah? Are you there...?"

I shook my head quickly to clear my thoughts, and I returned to heed the voice in my headphones.

"Yes, here I am."

"What happened? I heard a cry" Cinderhella sounded really worried, so I sighed

"A little surprise... I must go now" I mumbled, with a grimace. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

I heard a faint and unconvinced 'Okay' before hanging up.

I searched my cellphone in the mess that was on my bed, and found it, sighed heavily. I looked for a specific name, and I dialed quickly to not having time to repent.

After ringing a few minutes, I finally heard a voice.

"Greetings. Scarlett Stone on the line, with whom I am speaking?" questioned an indifferent and slightly sleepy voice, so I rolled my eyes

"I'm the Tooth Fairy."

"I don't require your fictional services at the moment."

With a snort, I looked at the clock. It was five minutes to midnight. Five minutes to Saturday.

"I accept your proposal" I mumbled, almost biting my tongue to speak

There was silence on the other end of the line for a while, until I heard a mocking laugh that got me frowning.

"Just in time, Noah" she said, and I could imagine her smirk. "Tomorrow at noon, Spooner Street, apartment 48. Don't be late."

* * *

Hey!

So, Scarlett makes her first appearance in this story. What do you think about that? Well, you can tell me with a review.

And talking about reviews, I'll answer them now.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thanks again. I hope I can bring Noah's soft side more often!

MyNameDontMatter: When I read his interview, the idea came to my mind instantly. I'm glad you looked that up. Thank you!

Ali6132: Thanks a lot. Well, we'll see who who's Cinderhella243 person is, huh? Thanks for your review, bye!

The Abysswalker: I know. I stumbled upon the interviews by accident, actually. Later it'll be revealed who she is. Oh, you're right. It would be interesting!

I guess that's all. I'll try to update soon.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	8. In the rich man's world

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

* * *

In the rich man's world

* * *

Apartment 48 was quite spacious and pleasant. It was very tidy, everything literally on its site.

The rent was surprisingly affordable if it was paid by two. After seeing my future room, furnished and clean, I couldn't help but to sign the contract.

Owen and Alejandro had offered to help me move my stuff. I knew that Owen did it by the power of friendship, while Alejandro was just grateful to have a room to himself.

Although Owen looked nervous about Scarlett, she showed her best indifferent expression to ignore him. My friend feared her from the infamous episode ten, repeatedly tried to convince me to desist from moving in with her.

"She could hurt you, buddy!"

To that, I could only roll my eyes. Yes, I was moving in with a psychopath that wouldn't hesitate to kill someone if necessary. But it was better than sharing a room with that eel, obviously.

"Mi amigo, I will miss you, I..."

I shut the door in his face as finished installing my belongings. I won't buy your story, Al.

The days at the apartment were peaceful. I only crossed a few words with Scarlett, because every time I saw her, she was busy studying, or I was too tired to do anything.

Also, I spent most of my free time locked in the comfort of my room. There I had everything I needed except food, so I should go out regularly to get it.

However, that Sunday night I had foreseen the situation, so I took several snacks with me before locking myself in my little temple.

And I was determined to put an end to my torturous situation with Cinderhella243.

"Okay, listen" I started at one point, interrupting a speech about a dress that looked different colored by something I couldn't understand. "I'm tired."

"Oh, you need some rest."

"No, I don't mean that. I'm tired of 'this'."

The silence that took place managed to scare me a little. I thought she would abruptly cut off the communication, and I would feel ridiculously guilty afterwards. However, she sighed.

"'This'" she repeated then. "What is 'this'?"

"Cinderhella... I'm tired of calling you that way" I said, crossing my arms though she couldn't see me. "In fact, I'll stop calling you that now. I'll call you by your name."

"I won't tell you."

"Then I'll stop calling you."

For a moment I feared that this time she would really end the communication and stop talking to me completely. It wasn't my intention to put it that way, but frustration was beginning to speak for me.

Noticing that she didn't take the word, I sighed.

"Try to put yourself in my place. I've known you for almost five years now. We talked about things we wouldn't talk with anyone else" I continued, with fatigue that I couldn't disguise my voice. "And yet, I don't know your name. I have no face to your voice. I can't stop thinking about it. Do you understand how frustrating it is?"

Again silence, but this time, I could hear her heavy breathing that then became sob. Fantastic, I could now feel like a monster.

But I didn't have to feel that way, right? I mean, I was right. This was unfair, and I was on my right to ask for an explanation, and... damn, I couldn't help feeling like a son of a bitch.

Just when I was going to apologize and retract everything I had said, she spoke again.

"Sorry, Noah."

I grimaced at her broken voice.

"It's okay. Forget it."

"No. No, you're right" she admitted, with a long sigh of resignation. "I just thought about my feelings, but not about yours. I have been unfair and selfish. I'm really sorry."

I let her recover, silently. I didn't want to make her feel bad, I hated listening to her crying. However, this was something that needed to happen, and I couldn't help feeling that those tears would be worthwhile.

"Tell me where and when."

And apparently I was right.

Those words were like an oasis in the desert. I didn't expect it. I couldn't help but smile triumphantly.

"Listen, I'm not trying to pressure you..."

"I want to meet you, Noah" she assured, and I could almost hear a smile in her voice. "Talk fast, before I change my mind."

Her playful tone managed to steal a laugh from me. Everything was fine. No. Everything was better.

"I'm free this Saturday. We can plan something then."

"Sounds good. By the way... you sounded really sexy and confident a few minutes ago."

Perfect. I could feel my cheeks turn red at her words, but didn't let that be noticed in my voice.

"Oh, yeah? Just wait to hear me live and direct."

She giggled at that. Suddenly she gasped.

"Shit, look at the time!" she exclaimed, and almost inadvertently I looked at my watch. Half an hour to one in the morning. "I have classes tomorrow, and you too. Let's go to sleep."

That was an order, and was the only one I was willing to obey. Sleeping was of the few free pleasures of life. And sleeping with a smile on my face, was a miracle worthy of mention.

* * *

On Tuesday night, I was exhausted.

Classes at college were hell on earth, plus I had forgotten one of my essays on my bed.

My turn in the library, was unusually chaotic. The place was full of women, whose average ages ranged from eighteen to forty, all looking the same novel.

I had never read, nor will read 'Fifty Shades of Grey', but it was a fucking commercial success. What was so special about it? Pseudo-eroticism, which actually was cheap pornography. And I knew that just by reading reviews of the book. Meh.

The point is that college and the library had left me exhausted. And hungry, so when I just arrived, I jumped on the refrigerator like a lion on a zebra.

I was so distracted eating the first thing I found, that at first I didn't hear the insistent tapping of fingers on the keys of a calculator, accompanied by unintelligible mutterings.

With a slice of pizza in my mouth, I turned around. At the kitchen table, Scarlett seemed completely focused on making calculations relentlessly.

I sat in a chair facing hers, and curiously, I glanced at the pile of papers scattered on the table while nibbling my pizza.

Words like 'incomes', 'sales', 'debts', and 'vendettas' welcomed me, carelessly scrawled. I grimaced, confused.

"May I ask what are you doing?"

"You may, but I don't assure a response."

Her answer was short, and she didn't even bother to raise her eyes from her hard work.

"All right..." I muttered, with even more curiosity. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I reckon the average fortune of my future victim" she replied dryly and naturally, as if saying the weather. "Can I help you with anything else?"

"Nah, I don't think so."

She nodded once, as if not noticing my sarcasm. I rolled my eyes away.

"Fortune? Future victim?" I questioned, arching an eyebrow. "I know you like to dress up like a MILF, honey, but aren't you too young to think about that?"

"Ignoring your unnecessary remark about my wardrobe choices and answering your question, no, I'm not too young to think about it" she said, raising her head from her task to look at me with boredom. "It is, actually, the perfect time."

"Aha... and tell me, who is the miserable old man who fell into your clutches?"

"The individual in question is almost my age, except three months and five days of difference."

My curiosity grew even more if that was possible. I couldn't believe she was serious, but her professional and monotone voice gave her credibility.

"Who is it?" I asked, finishing my slice of pizza and struggling to get up and take another.

"Maximillian Parker, son of George and Mirelle Parker, younger brother to Karma Parker" she informed, seeing as if reading her words directly from my face. "The Parker family amasses a fortune passed from generation to generation, in the prolific mafia business."

I only listened to two words. 'Maximillian' and 'mafia'.

"Are you talking about the same Maximillian that almost peed his pants when you went from innocent ugly duck to psychopath swan?"

"Precisely."

I was in complete silence for a moment. It was hard enough to process the fact that this guy, who obviously didn't have in his body one bit of his acclaimed evilness, was involved in a tumultuous environment as the Mafia world.

"It would be stupid to waste all that money leaving it in the hands of an adult child with an intellect lower than a clam's one" she explained, pulling me from my thoughts and removing a moment her glasses to rub her eyes a little. "So I have a master plan to get his trust back, and in the near future, all his fortune."

"All right... you know? I am really tired" I mumbled, unable to avoid dropping a yawn. "I'll leave you to your wicked calculations and stuff, okay?"

"Very well. I hope you reach the REM sleeping phase."

"Yeah... Good night to you too."

I retired as quickly as possible, completely forgetting the hunger I felt.

That night I reached the REM sleeping phase and a bizarre parody where Scarlett was a sex slave under the title 'Fifty Shades of Parker' came to my mind. It was disgusting. Very disgusting.

All because of the evil brainiac and Maximillian Parker, aka 'the garden-and-mafia-dwarf'.

* * *

Hi!

Apparently Noah will finally meet Cinderhella, and Scarlett has in mind an evil plan that threatens the least evil dwarf among all evil dwarfs (?) I hope that's not too much to process.

I think I'd better answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thanks. Good speculation, we'll see soon! I think you have to be really brave to accept living with Scarlett!

Artemis Raven Courtney: Interesting theory about Gwen. Oh, I loved Scarlett from beginning to end too. We'll see how their relationship develops...

Ali6132: Maybe Noah will regret his choice, maybe not. Scarlett can be a psycho, but as you said, she's really smart and eloquent too. Let's see what happens.

The Abysswalker: I know, Scarlett can be a little bit creepy, but I guess Noah doesn't mind that... for now. I think Noah's absence was the cause of the failure of those two seasons... he's just that awesome.

MyNameDontMatter: Yeah, you're right. I'd prefer Scarlett always, she's one of my favorites too!

KDMUiuLK: Thank you! I do my best to portray him properly.

Well, I guess that's all.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	9. After all this time?

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

After all this time?

* * *

Meeting Cinderhella243 this Saturday was still an appointment, which meant that she hadn't changed her mind, which in turn meant that I had a 'slightly' more lively mood.

Slightly.

Say classes in college seemed not so heavy, and the fact that I didn't share a room with anyone and had complete privacy, helped much.

Leaving aside her evil plans with that purple gangster, Scarlett seemed to be sane most of the time.

Cohabitation was easy to digest, and chatting with her seemed quite refreshing considering her IQ could give competition to mine, something that not many can proudly say.

"May I ask who is your interlocutor at night?" she questioned at Friday night, while we finished eating pizza. "You maintain fairly extensive talks, and I admit they have captured my curiosity."

"Oh..."

Oh.

OH.

Friday night, Cinderhella243 had some business to attend to and couldn't talk to me... or so she said. For I, the greatest genius among geniuses, had forgotten to mention the Saturday thing throughout the week.

Maybe she was angry, thinking that maybe I didn't want to meet her anymore. I blanched for a moment, and Scarlett noticed. She arched an eyebrow questioningly.

"You can choose not to answer, if you want. It's not my business, actually..."

"I don't know her name, nor have seen her face" I muttered, crossing my arms in a thoughtful gesture. "This Saturday I'll meet her... I hope so."

"A Femme" she said, wiping her lips gently with a napkin. "A blind date, perhaps?"

"Meh, I guess. I mean, we already know each other, somehow, for five years now. Only we never met in person."

Scarlett looked at me with a blank expresion for a moment, before using her hands as support for her face, a look of curiosity in her expression.

"Interesting, indeed" she admitted with a polite nod. "Would you mind telling me more?"

"Uh... what do you want to know?"

"What will you do in the date, for example?"

"I don't know" I said, in all honesty. Because no, I didn't know. "But I have a fantastic idea: I can invite her to take a nap with me."

"Scientifically and psychologically speaking, long periods of physical contact or just closeness stimulate chemicals in the brain that promote trust. If you sleep while cuddling to somebody you just met, you'll notice how incredibly comfortable you'll feel with them after you wake up, as if you've known each other for years" explained Scarlett suddenly, with an old professor voice tone. "So yes, a long nap together is actually the ideal date if your goal is a relationship based on trust."

I was silent after that, staring at her. When she didn't say anything else, I sighed.

"Maybe you should apply your own advice" I mumbled, without giving much importance to what was in reality. "According to your evil plans, you need to earn the trust of that mafia boy."

"I must admit that I hadn't thought of it that way, and it seems like a good idea despite being suggested with complete sarcasm. However, I have other plans.

And then it was turn for Scarlett to vent. And by that I mean she started reciting a report on her progress.

She didn't do it because I cared, not because eye wanted an opinion, not even to socialize. She just had a theory that it was easier if she said it aloud. And as hearing doesn't require any physical effort, I had no problems with listening to her.

"According to the information that has come to my understanding, Max frequents a lady named Ciara Jamison, who I am investigating thoroughly, obviously" she said, opening one of her many folders and taking away a photograph, which she handed to me. "If I come to the conclusion that she represents an obstacle in my path..."

Scarlett didn't finish her sentence, but for a moment I feared for the integrity of the purple-haired girl with green eyes in the photo. Poor, poor Ciara.

"It's interesting how they almost have the same hair dye" I said, handing the photograph. "And... what are the advances in the field?"

"Perfectly. Although he seemed reluctant to my company at first, lately he seems more open and relaxed around me" she said, keeping the picture again after dedicating it a look of contempt. "With the sharing of various classes in my favor, in a couple of weeks I'll be able to make a physical progress without risk of failure... a touch of hands."

"Wow, you're a complete pervert."

Scarlett curled her lips in what looked like a grin and shrugged.

"That's all for now. I'll keep you informed."

I nodded once, standing up. Honestly, I found it interesting, in some strange and twisted way, how she treated the situation so lightly, and yet, she made real efforts.

"I'll go to sleep" I mumbled, letting out a yawn. "Tomorrow I have a nap, I mean, a date."

Or so I wanted to think.

When I entered my room, the first thing I did was try to contact Cinderhella. I sighed in relief, seeing that she was online.

"Hi!" I cried, unconsciously euphoric

"Hey...?" she responded with dubious voice, before letting out a chuckle. "Is anyone happy to hear me?"

I rolled my eyes, clucking at her mockingly. I sat on my bed, taking off my shoes lazily.

"I remembered that we haven't planned for tomorrow..."

"Do you know the Bookcafé? In the downtown, a few feet from the library?" she questioned, in a rushed tone. "There seems perfect, at six o'clock."

I blinked several times, quite misplaced by her sudden rush. Yes, I knew the Bookcafé, it was two business away from the library where I work.

I nodded, only to remember that she couldn't see me, and feel an idiot.

"All right" I muttered, and I couldn't help but let out another yawn

"Go to sleep, Noah" she whispered softly, and I could hear her yawning too. "Tomorrow will be a long day, and... please, don't run away when you see me."

* * *

I was nervous.

I didn't know why. I was never the type of person who sees the appearance. I wasn't wondering if she would be nervous 'ugly or pretty'. That would be stupid.

Also, I knew Cinderhella. I would only go to see her for the first time.

I left the apartment after Scarlett gave an unnecessary and cruel critique to my outfit, and took the same path as I journeyed to go to work.

My steps became slow and indecisive by advancing. As if a part of me wanted to turn around and return to the apartment to lock myself in my room.

But I ignored that feeling of insecurity, and arrived at Bookcafé. I looked for a secluded table and settled there, as if to merge with the seat.

The Bookcafé was an establishment that combined the convenience of a coffee shop with the benefits of a library. You could take a book from the shelves, or specifically ask for one, and drink a latte in the meantime.

The place was heaven for me, and apparently, also for Cinderhella.

I checked my watch. Seven minutes to six o'clock. I sighed heavily, beginning to tap the table with my fingers, unconsciously impatient.

I looked around me. There were some young people spread across several tables, some quietly reading, others chatting to each other in an entertaining way.

Suddenly, a girl with curly and curly red hair came in, carrying on her back a little pink backpack.

I didn't pay much attention until I noticed that she walked toward me, her blue eyes on the ground she walked, perhaps as a prey of nervousness.

She stopped in front of my table and gave a long sigh. Her pale face rose at last to see me. She wore an insecure expression on her face.

"Hey...?"

I recognized it. I recognized that voice, sweet and soft, which o had first heard more than five years ago.

I couldn't help it, I stood up at once, and I could see that she was very short, and besides, she was trembling slightly.

"Cinderhella?"

The girl giggled at my unnecessary question, and shrugged.

"You can call me Nirvana now" she muttered, hiding a red curl behind her right ear

Nirvana. I knew that name, and not from the band leaded by the deceased Kurt Cobain.

Then, as if from an old movie it were, several things came to my mind at a time. Screaming, crying, more screaming and an innocent girl crying as she squeezed my hand tightly.

It was her.

"Short Fuse...?" I questioned, arching an eyebrow unconsciously

"Well, I haven't been called that for a while" she admitted, looking away. She grimaced. "Will you keep staring at me or...?"

"No... I mean, yeah... I mean..."

I chuckled, exasperated. I hated babbling, especially in public. I looked and felt stupid, actually. I simply made a sign with my hand for her to take a seat in front of me, while I did the same.

She sat down, and took her backpack off to hang it on the back of her chair. She turned to me with a small smile.

"Go ahead, spit out your questions" she encouraged me, crossing her arms to rest a little in her chair

I sighed.

I wasn't nervous anymore. I knew Nirvana, apparently for more than five years. Almost ten years, to be exact.

However, I obviously had a couple of questions stuck in my throat.

"Firstly, you're beautiful. I had to say it" I mumbled, just for her to look away with a blush she couldn't hide. I smiled a little. "Secondly, why? Why didn't you want me to see you?"

Nirvana took a breath for a moment before releasing it slowly. She looked at me.

"At first, because I was ashamed" she admitted, shrugging her shoulders slightly. "Then I saw you on TV, and I recognized you, and... I thought you would be scared if you knew who I am."

"Sure, 'cause I would probably be scared of the memory of a crying child."

She laughed a little, shaking her head slightly.

"Anger management issues can do that to you."

"Anger management?" I repeated, arching my eyebrows slightly. "Why didn't you tell me about that? Oh wait, I know. You were afraid that would scare me."

"Precisely" she confirmed, nodding once, her expression hardened slightly. "I was diagnosed with it after that outburst in class, when I was eight..."

"What happened then? Why did you disappear?"

"My mom and I moved here in Ontario. We live here ever since."

I nodded slightly, at the right moment a waitress in a green uniform approached us with a small notebook in her hands.

The two of us ordered a cappuccino, almost in unison. It made us smile a little, or perhaps, we grinned knowingly.

"Got any other questions?" she said then, seeing me with an uncertain expression

I sighed heavily. I had many questions, but I was sure we had plenty of time to answer them together, one by one.

I could only smile a little, nodding.

"Would you take a nap with me?"

* * *

Hello again!

Well, the mysterious mystery has been revealed. Some of you saw it coming, others didn't.

Cinderhella243 is Nirvana.

Ciara Jamison is an OC, but not mine, she belongs to CiaraTheBlackDragon, who not long ago deactivated her DeviantArt account. I tried to contact her to ask for her permission to use Ciara, but I haven't found a way to talk to her yet. We'll see what happens.

Now I'll answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Yeah, I know. Scarlett is smart enough to survive in that environment. I'm glad I brought Noah's soft side again.

MyNameDontMatter: Well, here you have it. Things will go wrong, I assure you. Just wait for it...

Ali6132: Nirvana you know (and Noah too)! We'll see if Scarlett's plan works and I haven't read that either. Bye!

Artemis Raven Courtney: Well, Cinderhella is Nirvana! Now the mystery is solved!

The Abysswalker: Thank you! Yeah, I know what you mean. Oh, I heard about that too. Well, Scarlett could do anything for money, right? Till next time!

Shyhitz: Well, thank you! Now you know who she is. Oh, thank you again! I love Noah too x3 Answering your question, I'll say that Scarlett is a rather complex character, and she speaks in a serious and emotionless way. Writing her dialogues isn't hard for me, but sometimes I read stuff around and think 'Scarlett would say that!'. So she says it.

Samantha1105: Thanks! Well, Noah is one of my favorites too, and I always do my best to portray him properly. Hope you liked this chapter!

Well, I guess that's all for now.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	10. Always

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Always

* * *

Nirvana was really nice, or at least, that was my personal perception.

I thought that way even before I could see her face, but now it was like an undeniable fact.

The connection I felt with that voice every night was still there, maybe even stronger. The talk was fluid, laughter was outrageous and smiles were sincere.

I was happy. Rarely I'm happy. And I guess that's fine, that way, I can feel happiness more intensely.

"So... Poe or Hemingway?"

Nirvana seemed to analyze my question in deep concentration, as we left the Bookcafé and I accompanied her home.

She grimaced.

"Let's see... Hemingway with love, war, nature, and loss..." she began, in a tone so low that I had to lean a little to hear her. "And Poe, master of the short stories and the father of the Gothic novel... it's a tough decision!"

"Let me see, an easy one..." I muttered, pretending I was thinking deeply. I smiled wryly. "Meyer or James?"

Nirvana gave me a totally incredulous look, before letting out a mocking laugh, which I couldn't help joining seconds later.

"They're the same crap!" she exclaimed, laughing, shaking her head. She sighed to calm herself. "However, I guess the original crap has merit, plus it's not about woman abuse disguised as eroticism. So I'll say Meyer."

"Excellent choice. Glittery vampires deserve love too."

Nirvana laughed again, and I could only smile. She was appeasing her breath slowly and stopping her laughter. She sighed again.

"I consider this as the right moment to inform you that we both attend the same college" she said then, as if it wasn't important, and ignored my incredulous look. "You cannot imagine how hard it was to hide so you wouldn't see me in the halls...!"

"All this time you were close... and didn't say anything?"

"Well, you should've guessed, what college would I attend, if not the closest one, in the city where I've been living for years?"

She turned to me with a small smile that faded as it collided with my serious expression. I couldn't help it. It was frustrating to know I had spent whole nights imagining someone who probably I had already seen by accident.

"I'm sorry" she muttered then, looking away, embarrassed. "Are you angry?"

Was I? No. But I wanted to be, I really wanted to be.

"I'm not, I'm just... I'm disappointed. And frustrated" I mumbled, shrugging and hiding my hands in my pockets. "But I suppose it doesn't matter. Now I know who you are, and you must not hide anymore."

"I won't, never again."

It sounded like a promise.

Nirvana's house was several blocks from Bookcafe, and some more of my apartment. And while yeah, I really still hate walking, I could ignore fatigue.

"So... when's our next date?" she questioned suddenly, and I raised an eyebrow at that. She blushed slightly. "'Cause this was a date, right...?"

"I thought so. Unless you call it differently."

She shrugged, looking away quickly. One thing is hearing her say that she was shy, and quite another was to see it. I smiled a little.

"Tell me where to go, or what you want to do. I haven't dated many girls, so I have no idea" I mumbled, shrugging indifferently. "Honestly, I'm not a ladies man, although my Greek god face says otherwise..."

Nirvana chuckled at that, and shook her head slightly.

"Don't play the innocent, heartbreaker" she joked, giving me a small, harmless hit in the arm. "I haven't dated many people either... my best friend counts?"

"Does he look at you for long periods of time, has silly excuses to touch you and speaks softly just to come closer to you?"

"Yep, sometimes."

"Then yes, he counts."

She shook her head quickly, making het red curls bounce around.

"Nope. He's like my brother, he would never see me that way" she said, though I wasn't so sure. "Anyway... what if we plan it later?"

"Procrastinate everything to the last minute?" I muttered, arching an eyebrow. "That's my specialty."

"That makes two of us, honey."

I smiled again, and she returned the gesture instantly. She stopped suddenly and pointed to a house with an old facade, like a child asking for ice cream.

"Here it is" she confirmed, with a brief sigh."You better go, before the big bad wolf, aka my mother, sees you."

You don't have permission to date yet, you big girl?" I asked with a mocking tone, but I really wanted to know

"Yes, I have permission. But I don't want her to see you, not yet. Is it wrong?"

"I don't care. I'm dating you, not your mom."

"Preach it."

She giggled softly, before standing on tiptoe to kiss my cheek briefly. She turned away, blushing, and I was pretty sure that the heat on my skin was visible.

"See you, Noah."

I nodded once, unconsciously smiling at her words.

"See you, literally."

* * *

My good mood lasted two whole weeks before being replaced by exhaustion and the conclusion that my literature teacher hated me and needed to get laid.

Speaking of literature teacher who need to get laid, or people who dress like literature teachers and also need to get laid, Scarlett was working hard to introduce her psychotic person in the gangster gnome's life.

She was good at it. One Friday night, she was better.

She arrived at the apartment a little early, and I could hear her footsteps coming running to the living room. Still, I didn't lift my eyes from my book when she stopped at the door.

"Noah!" she cried, and her extremely happy tone made me look at her in disbelief, only to see a huge smile on her face and several shopping bags hanging on her arms. "What time is it?"

"Adventure Time?"

"Yes...! Wait, no!"

Her smile (so wide that it was creepy) didn't vanish when she approached me to drop herself on the couch next to me. I couldn't help but move away a little, suspicious.

"It's time for my victory, my high IQ friend" she said, with a short cynical laugh. "Because my plan has finally paid off. Literally, I must say."

Before I could drop some sarcastic and biting remark, she dropped her shopping bags and opened her leather bag (new, by the way) to take a wad of cash. A fucking very generous wad of cash.

"Do you know what this is?"

"Paper with monetary value?"

"Exactly. And it's mine, all mine" she boasted, looking at the money like a mother would stare at her firstborn. "Because I, Scarlett Stone, am Mr. Parker's new assistant."

I arched my eyebrows in disbelief. Her daily reports on her progress were good, but not 'sooo' good, as for this.

Besides, who the hell would 'hire' the person who tried to murder you a few years ago? Only an idiot. I guess it makes sense in this context, then.

"Then the dwarf fell into your trap" I mumbled with a nonchalant grin. "Congratulations...?"

"Thank you" she said, obviously proud of her achievements. "I admit I have fought my overriding desire to abandon the plan and avoid the humiliation serving to such a pathetic human specimen, but... it's worth it."

She looked again to her wad of money, and all her shopping bags around her ñ. Her smile returned.

"It's worth it."

She repeated it, perhaps to convince herself, or to add unnecessary drama to the situation.

No matter the reason, o just know that she will regret this. I bet my Lord of the Rings books that she will regret this. Yes, I'm really serious.

Really serious.

* * *

Hey there again!

Chapter ten. What will happen with Noah and Nirvana? Will Scarlett steal Max's fortune, I mean, Mr. Parker's fortune? Will I stop asking questions? Yes, I will xD

Anyway... I have some reviews to answer.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thank you! Nirvana is the first OC I ever created, and I made her specially for this story. Anyway, I signed her in some SYOC stories while I was creating her.

Brozonglover52: Well, right now I'm writing a chapter that features them, so...

Artemis Raven Courtney: She accomplished something now, we'll see what happens next...

MyNameDontMatter: Things are gonna go wrong, awfully wrong... just wait and see. Thank you!

The Abysswalker: Yeah, it was Nirvana. Maybe everyone should have seen it coming :P Thanks, sincerely.

Ali6132: Thank you. Well, maybe she was just guided got what she saw on TV, and there wasn't much interaction between the them apart from that special. Heh, I feel bad for them too, I guess. Poor Max, I know. Bye!

Well, I gotta go. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	11. The other talk

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

The other talk

* * *

One weekend per month, I used to visit my parents. Not because I wanted to, but because they wanted. I don't blame them for missing my joyful presence.

Actually, I used to go just to sleep in my old room, especially in my old bed. That is true love, and the rest is nonsense.

In this house lived my parents and my sister Mariah. They used to say they missed me, and that was nice to hear. But not every moment.

Elijah, Isaiah, Jeriah, Josiah, Jonah, Jeremiah and Zachariah and had their own families, their own homes, their own wives, their own children, their own jobs, their own debts and their own misery. Long story short, they had their own lives, away from mom and dad.

Mariah is just two year older than me, that is, she is 22 years. And she had already divorced, so she still lived with my parents. All forecasts indicated that this would be like that for a long while.

Arranged marriages in India were mandatory before, and were agreed since the birth of the future husband and wife.

Time has passed, and culture has advanced enough to recognize that it is stupid.

But not enough to recognize that not all of us want to get married.

One Saturday morning, I woke up thanks to someone persistently trying to get my attention. While my eyes were opened reluctantly, I wondered who the hell wanted to disturb so early.

It was my father.

He had a slightly nervous expression on his face, and smiled a little when he saw me give him a glare, as furious, as sleepy.

"Is it World War III already?"

"Not yet" he answered, more than I used to my morning humor. "But it is very important that you wake up now."

I grunted as I stretched my arms and yawned, straightening in bed. My father, sitting on the edge of it, looked at me with a small smile.

Mishka Blain had inherited me my hair color, but not his green eyes. All my siblings had his eyes but me. I love you too, life.

I returned his gaze, more asleep than awake, struggling to keep my eyes open.

My father cleared his throat solemnly, and I knew that whatever he was about to say wouldn't be good.

"Noah, you're a grown man now" he began, with the same small smile as I just arched an eyebrow. "Your mother and I are very proud of you. You are an outstanding student, have a stable job, a place to live..."

"For every word you say, a unicorn dies" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and dropping another yawn. "I appreciate all that, but you couldn't you just say what you wanna say, please?"

"Sure, sure... your mother thinks you've reached the proper age, and she'll give you the talk."

"Dad, I know where babies come from."

"Not that talk... the other talk."

The other talk.

My face expression changed instantly when I understood the meaning of his words.

I am old enough, have a stable income and work... I am ideal for Indian arranged marriages process.

In case you didn't know, I'll illuminate these pages with Indian culture.

Currently, when a boy reaches the age where he has a job with steady income and is considered adult, a family member (preferably a woman) tries to find out if he's interested in getting married. The same applies to women, but this happens when they reach twenty years of age or their graduation.

Family can also wait for the boy or girl to express interest, but usually they are quite impatient and try to put it through your eyes at all costs.

My father told me this day would come, and I saw it coming, repeated over time with each of my brothers, and sister. One by one. Mercilessly.

"I don't want to get married."

My father grimaced and nodded once, but a moment he stood up only to sit a little closer to me.

"I know, but at least 'try'" he said, with a slightly pleading expression on his face. "Your mother is really excited, she wants this to work. After Mariah's situation..."

I shook my head, rolling my eyes.

Mariah, my divorced sister, remember? To my mother, that divorce was the greatest disgrace that she could bring to this family. So she hardly spoke to her, and if she did, it looked more like she was barking.

"It's not my fault that Mariah's marriage didn't work. It was the Illuminati's fault" I muttered, crossing my arms firmly. "I won't get married just to please mom, much less if I know it won't work and then she'll hate me for that."

"She'll only get a couple of candidates for you, you'll meet them, reject them kindly..."

"No."

"Noah, it's a small effort..."

"'No', which is Spanish for 'no'."

My father nodded, raising his hands up in surrender. And I really thought he was going to surrender, until I saw a smile appear on his face.

But not just any smile. His 'Don't mess with Mishka' smile.

"All right, all right" he muttered, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "But remember... you owe me."

"Do you mind explaining...?"

"I gave you permission to spend the summer at a five star resort when you were sixteen. Not my fault that you found our the truth later, honey."

I frowned slightly at that last comment, and the tone of it. It almost sounded like me! He was just teasing me.

"It's a matter of honor, Noah" he continued, patting my shoulder before I pushed him aside with my hand slightly. He chuckled softly. "Come on, son. For your mother."

I rolled my eyes again, snorting, but finally nodded resignedly. Maybe a little effort...

...ugh, the word 'effort' is stressful.

My father walked out of the room satisfied, winking conspiratorially before closing the door.

I grunted and went back to cover myself with my sheets, ready to recover some minutes of sleep, maybe half an hour...

"Noah, sweetie, come down for breakfast!"

...maybe not.

The voice of my mother forced me to drag my bare feet down the stairs, to peek at the kitchen door with all the enthusiasm that I could have at a Saturday morning.

"Good morning, sweetheart!" Yalitza Blain greeted me with an unusual 'Happy Birthday' spirit. "Come here, I prepared your favorite breakfast..."

I could hardly return her greeting with a whisper before she almost forced me to take a seat.

I rubbed my eyes, watching the plate in front of me.

Sandesh. Yes, I love sandesh, and I was long time since I last ate it. However, my mother's persistently sweet stare and my father's nervous attitude took away my appetite.

In case you were wondering, sandesh is an Indian sweet made with sugar and milk. Pretty simple, really.

"Good morning everyone" I could hear my older sister's voice before she came and sat down beside me. "Sandesh, yummy! What are we celebrating?"

"I don't know, I was just asking myself the same" I mumbled, pointing with my finger one portion of my breakfast. "I wonder why this day is special..."

"I'm glad you asked" cried my mother, taking the bait and releasing a cheerful laugh. "Although I would prefer that 'certain' people weren't here..."

"Yalitza..."

"No, Dad, it's okay" said Mariah, rising from her place with indifference. She patted my shoulder briefly. "Good luck, little one."

Her slightly mocking tone managed make me smile a bit and steal a grunt from mom, so I gave my sandesh dish to her, to which she quietly devoured it while walking away.

My mother snorted at my gesture and my sister's disregard, making me feel almost guilty. Almost.

I understood that, compared to my father, she was much more traditional. She had reluctantly agreed to move to Canada, and it took her a lot of work to adapt to life here. It still was difficult for her.

However, her hostile and inconsiderate behavior towards Mariah simply because her marriage - arranged, obviously- didn't work seemed unnecessary to me.

Therefore, almost.

"Well, now that we're confident..." began my mother, pulling me from my thoughts and getting my brow furrowed slightly. "Noah, honey, there's something that I have to tell you."

A brief look at my father said that I should keep quiet and just wait for it. He was sipping some coffee loudly while hiding behind his newspaper.

"You see, son, there comes a time in the life of every young Indian boy in which he becomes a man. That moment has come to you" my mother said, rising from her seat to get a little closer to me, smiling even more. "I want you to know that I am very proud of you, and there is nothing that would please me more than to see you form your own family with a young lady worthy of you."

I didn't answer right away. I was in complete silence, staring at her, blinking several times every so often.

Of course, in my mind I wondered if she really hoped I would get married at this age, tie myself to a person just to satisfy her wishes, which in turn are dictated by customs of a culture that do well appreciate, but I don't practice, but I'm just forced to turn all my negative thoughts towards the idea of a marriage into a simple...

"I'm ready, Mom."

A fucking lie, Saturn size.

"Really? Oh, Noah, this is fantastic! I'm so happy for you!" my mother's words filled my ears when she hugged me against her chest (and against my will), pulling away only to kiss my forehead. "I have to find a matchmaker, get you candidates and begin to visit them! We have to prepare you! Oh, I'll call your aunt!"

She immediately went to the phone embedded in the wall of the kitchen, quickly dialing a number and screaming with excitement.

"Talisha, you're not going to believe this! Guess who is getting married!" she shouted to the phone, and almost without waiting for an answer, she continued. "Yes, Noah! Just like his cousin...!"

The mention of my cousin made me roll my eyes with a grimace. Not that I didn't like the guy, but... he was 'too' excited with the idea of getting married. And his girlfriend, future wife as he proclaimed, didn't seem to share his enthusiasm.

My father cleared his throat loudly to get my attention, and when he did, he raised his thumb in approval, smiling.

I gave him a 'very friendly' gesture with my middle finger, which made him frown, but he said nothing, to avoid calling my mom's attention.

I left the kitchen quietly, before my mother could hug me again, and I intended to return to my room.

Passing through the living, Mariah giggled at me, finishing devouring the sandesh while watching television.

"So my brother is getting married..."

"Hold your excitement for the wedding day" I mumbled, ignoring her to start climbing the stairs. "February 30th, next year."

Mariah laughed then, and I just continued up the stairs, until finally getting into my room's comfort, throwing myself on the bed.

I wasn't hungry, I didn't want to move... I just wanted to stay there, quietly.

However, my right arm was stretched to reach the bedside table, and take my phone. I discovered that I had received a message while I was down there.

It was Nirvana.

'Date next Saturday? ;)'

I smiled a little, and almost immediately began to write on the virtual keyboard.

'You bring the movies, I bring the food.'

I didn't have to wait long to receive a positive answer, before she appeared 'Offline'.

I sighed heavily, still lying on my bed. Although I couldn't erase my little smile, I could feel that it slowly transformed into a grimace.

My mother would put her efforts to arrange appointments for me with the hope that one of them is her future daughter-in-law.

I would put my efforts to reject each and every one of them, to concentrate my attention on one person I thought was worthy of it.

And I was tired just thinking about it.

Life is a sick bitch.

* * *

Hello again!

Sorry if this chapter is too short, but I consider it as necessary. It's something like to explain a little what will happen in the next chapters.

Now, I'll reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thank you! Yeah, I know. She shouldn't play with the mafia.

Artemis Raven Courtney: Oh, yeah! Sure she will.

Ali6132: Thanks! Well, I like to call them Noahna, but I'm open to suggestions! By the way, yeah! You totally predicted it!

The Abysswalker: I know, I just had to get it out of my system lol. Well, I'm really glad that you liked it!

Dolly: Thanks for taking your time to R&amp;B every chapter. And yeah, I think Max is just nuts.

I think that's all, plus I'm really tired. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	12. According to the plan

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

According to the plan

* * *

The fact that Scarlett spent less time in the apartment was beneficial, sometimes.

Some nights she would be out all night, and I only got to know the next morning, when I saw her arrive with sunglasses to cover the dark circles under her eyes and get tired expression. But with her paycheck at hand, which seemed to make her smile at any time.

I never bothered to ask what exactly was her work, but in her own words, she did the dirty work that her 'boss' didn't want to do. I didn't want to know more about that.

The fact is that she was always busy, between college and constant calls to her new cellphone, to which she always answered with feigned kindness to 'Mr. Parker'.

I could tell she was already regretting it.

That Saturday afternoon, Scarlett wasn't at home. She had left in the morning after receiving a call, letting dry 'Don't wait for me' before closing the door.

I wasn't going to wait for her, anyway.

I was waiting for Nirvana to find the apartment, and she did, as she arrived about three o'clock. Since then, we were watching the movies that she had brought (The Lord of the Rings, in case you were wondering), while we finished the appetizers that Scarlett had left in the cupboard.

'Take whatever you want, I can afford it' she had said, in a tone of self-sufficiency. Well, I just did what I had to do.

"We just ran out of Nutella."

"Damn, all by yourself!"

Nirvana giggled at that, leaving aside the empty jar muttering a 'Sorry'.

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help but smile a little. Somehow she reminded me of Owen, it seemed that both of yohad an insatiable appetite. I had to wait and see if Nirvana was also able to eat whatever Chef could cook.

"I think I should stop eating so much" she commented, while Frodo and Sam were on the screen chatting about something I wasn't listening. "I'm going to get fat, and I can't allow that."

"Ugh. That sounded so superficial..."

"I didn't mean that. You know I'm a swimmer, and if you gain too much weight, my trainer will chop my head and that's not good. Not good at all."

I was ready to release a sassy comment when I saw her take a cookies packet and open it, but my phone vibrated in my pocket.

"Uhm.. is my mother" I muttered, drawing her attention right away. "Give me a minute."

"Okay" she replied, with a mouthful of chocolate-chip cookies. "Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight..."

"Make it ten minutes."

Nirvana gave me an incredulous look before releasing another giggle and concentrating on the film and the cookies, shrugging.

I sighed, walking away to enter my bedroom, so that my mother couldn't hear Gollum's voice when I finally answered.

"Honey, I need you to come home as soon as possible!" shouted my mother's voice in my ear, so I took the cellphone away from my ear for a moment. "We've got several candidates for you!"

I had to suppress a pretty loud curse. My mother and the matchmaker had wasted no time, no doubt about it.

Maybe I should explain a little. The second phase of Indian modern arranged marriage is to find a matchmaker who usually has contacts with many other Indian families, and give a photograph and the horoscope of the victim -that's me-.

The third phase making some matching parameters so the matchmaker has the easiest job to find compatible pretenders for to the victim -that's me again-.

The fourth phase, when the matchmaker has done most of her task, is to meet those candidates. And that's where the 'fun' begins.

For each meeting, both the matchmaker as the families of both parties expect that there's a 'spark' between the two young people and that they decide they want to know each other more.

And that wasn't going to happen. Not in my case.

I opened my bedroom door, only to listen to Nirvana's laugh, but I wasn't sure what she was laughing at (unless I had missed some particularly funny musical number between Gandalf and Legolas). I sighed.

"Now I'm a little busy" I muttered with a slightly annoyed grimace. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is Sunday... yes, that's perfect" exclaimed my mother the other side of the line, with the same enthusiasm. "Bathe and wash well behind the ears, you must be very presentable..."

"Yes, of course, Mom. Now I have to go."

"Oh, okay, take care..."

I hung up. I sighed. I swallowed my frustration. And I pretended everything was fine.

I returned, dropping myself onto the couch with all possible laziness, lying again my feet on the coffee table in front of us.

"Those were the fastest ten minutes in the world" said Nirvana, looking at me with a small smile. I tried to reciprocate the gesture, but I could only grimace. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah."

"It doesn't seem like it..."

I sighed, stretching my arm enough to surround her shoulders. I struggled to smile at least a little.

"Everything is fine" I assured, watching her cheeks flush gradually to return my gaze

Nirvana forgot the matter almost immediately. The guilt in my chest didn't disappear so quickly.

* * *

Meeting the candidates that the matchmaker had for me was as boring as infuriating.

Not that I dislike the traditional clothes my mother made me wear, nor the proud smile on her face. Because even though I had already rejected four candidates, my mother was equally excited. And I was equally reticent.

I just wasn't interested in any of those girls.

So I won't bother to tell what happened in those dates, as each one was exactly the same as before, or maybe worse.

I will only speak of one in specific. The last one.

As was tradition, my father, my mother and my sister went with me again to meet the fifth candidate.

Just like before, her family received us with open arms in a warm welcome, everyone but her.

The only thing different, so far, was that without hesitation, they took me to a separate room, where dressed in elegant traditional clothes, was the young lady in question.

Yes, she was pleasing to the eye, that I had to admit.

"Noah, this is our daughter Krisha" announced then her mother, in a tone that reminded me of a car salesman talking about a miles-zero. "We'll give you space for you to get to know each other."

I nodded once, hoping that their whispers and footsteps ceased after the sound of the door closing.

I wasn't nervous, but uncomfortable. Quite uncomfortable.

Krisha motioned with her hand to the couch that was in the room, and we sat there in silence. She cleared her throat.

"Then you want to get married..."

I knew she was just trying to break the ice, but I was pretty tired from the exhaustive routine with each of the above candidates. I sighed heavily.

"Not really" I mumbled, crossing my arms. "Literally, it's not you, it's me."

Krisha watched me silently for a moment, in which I expected her to get up dramatically and indignantly.

However, she only laughed a little.

"Me either" she admitted softly as if afraid that they could hear her. "But my aunt did a lot for us, so I owe her."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise, and she just laughed again. She shrugged, pouring some tea in two cups in front of us.

"I've been waiting for one of my candidates to think like me" she assured, gently stretching out one of the cups for me. "Because I'm tired of all this protocol, to be honest."

"Sounds like you have a plan" I mumbled, refusing to drink with a wave of my hand

"That's right."

Well, the girl had managed to impress me enough. I watched her idly stirring her cup of tea, as if she knew that I was waiting for her to speak again.

And she finally did.

"You see, I imagine you're so sick about all this 'dating' stuff, just like me. So I have an idea, which will guarantee us at least a few months of peace" she said, sipping her tea elegantly. "Want to know more?"

"No, thanks. I love having my family's pressure on my shoulders" I muttered, rolling my eyes in frustration. "If you're gonna talk, do it now."

"Oh, someone is a little impatient" she teased then, so I just raised an eyebrow. She let out another chuckle. "Okay, okay. Listen, this is my plan: we go out and tell everyone that we want to get married. We will have a few months of engagement in which we'll go to some dates so nobody suspects anything. Then we break up because we 'discovered that weren't meant to be', and that's all."

I waited a few moments in silence, for if she could say more. However, she just stared back at me with a crooked smile and a twinkle in her brown eyes.

I thought. I really thought about this absurd possibility. Although it wasn't as absurd if I was free from all those commitments that I didn't want to attend.

Of course, I should date thus girl for a while, but that would only be to cover our backs. Candidate number five's plan began to sound more and more attractive.

"Well, if you could decide for today..."

Krisha's voice got away from my thoughts, so I looked at her. She watched me expectantly, with the same smile.

"Three months."

"Four months."

"Three months and a half."

"Deal!" she exclaimed then, with an excited smile as she stretched her hand to me

I shook it briefly with a grin, and she let out a triumphant laugh. Almost immediately she stood up, taking my hand and practically dragging me towards the door.

She widely opened it, with a huge smile on her face, and instantly the members of our families turned to us with nervous and excited expressions.

"We've decided we're going to get married."

Krisha's words produced several reactions. The excitement of her parents and mine. Mariah's disbelief. And my total lack of interest that could hardly be disguised.

And among joyful exclamations, confused looks and fake smiles, I fell into an undeniable conclusion.

I am engaged. Oh, I'm 'so' excited.

* * *

Hi!

Noah is engaged! Isn't that great? No, it isn't xD Anyway, we'll see what happens...

Now, I'll answer your reviews.

The Abysswalker: Oh, no. No, this is just a tiny little bad thing compared to what's coming up. I know. Noah is a really mature character despite not having enough screen time. Yeah, his mom isn't very comprehensive. I had to investigate a lot to write this!

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thank you. We'll, that's what Noah should do... but he's Noah. He wants everything to be easy. Anyway, he found a way out of it. Kinda.

Artemis Raven Courtney: I know, I think we can all relate to him at some point.

Ali6132: Thanks. Some people want arranged marriage because that's what their beliefs require. But Noah isn't one of those persons. Thank you! Bye!

Samantha1105: Thank you. Oh... well, sorry about that. You see, he found a way out of it. Thanks a lot!

Well, that's all for now.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	13. How to get away with murder

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

2nd Warning: This chapter contains descriptions and concepts that could be offensive. Readers' discretion is advised.

* * *

How to get away with murder

* * *

My engagement had my mother in a bubble of happiness that no one dared to explode, and that I'd destroy in three and a half months.

However, I no longer had to get 'elegant' to meet girls I would reject even with my eyes closed, so I could say that I also had my own bubble of supposed happiness, or rather calm.

Between college and the library, I rarely had any free time, and when I had it, I used to spend it chatting with Nirvana or reading a book.

That Friday night, I had opted for the second option. I had chosen a book that I hadn't read for a while, "The Silence of the Lambs", and had left to the small balcony that our apartment had, to take some night air.

Reading was good as always and it managed to keep me busy and quiet for a while. Until I heard the apartment door, wide open, startling me.

I glanced back, and then I saw Scarlett, closing the door and turning awkwardly towards me, staggering a little.

I narrowed my eyes a bit to see her better, because she had red spots on her sweater, and in her face and hair.

Scarlett giggled and approached me with difficulty, stumbling a little but remained standing. She finally came the balcony, and dropped herself in the reclining chair next to me.

"Beautiful night, huh?"

As she just said that, the unbearable smell of alcohol escaped her mouth, and managed to make me wince in disgust. Perfect, the psychopath was drunk.

"Yeah, beautiful" I mumbled, arching my eyebrows. "Could you tell me what are those red stains? Did you lose in a game of paintball?"

"Oh, this?" she muttered, pointing to a small red stain on her right cheek. She laughed a little. "It's blood."

That was the first warning sign.

I closed my book slowly, watching her carefully, though she gave me back a small quiet smile.

"All right..." I said slowly, as if any sudden movement could set her off suddenly. "And why do you have blood on your face and clothes?"

"Oh, it's a funny story, very funny story" she crooned, laughing a little to herself. "Do you want me to tell you?"

"No, thanks."

"Okay, I'll tell you. It all started in Max's mansion, actually in his office. I was making some calculations, and his secretary was there too, swaying her hips like a bitch in heat..."

Scarlett paused with a sneer, reeling a little in her seat. I didn't need to ask to know who was the secretary. It was obvious by remembering that Scarlett had that same expression after showing me a picture.

"The point is that she left, and I had to go after her to get a few documents, and she began to provoke me with a dagger... she said that Max had given it to her" she continued then, sighing heavily as she leaned on the chair and watched the stars. "She said some other nonsense, tried to stab me in the back... so I sliced her throat."

She was silent again, and me too. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know whether to believe her or not. I didn't want to believe her. She straightened up a little, and almost instinctively I pulled away from her slightly.

"I chopped her head off and returned to Max's office. I lifted the head up, and said..."

But she fell silent, raising her left arm with her hand made into a fist, as if she really were holding an imaginary head.

Yes, I was afraid. The person with whom I shared an apartment was confessing a murder, without any remorse.

But of course, she was drunk, she could be inventing all that, so I could give her the benefit of doubt... right? If ignored I the blood stains on her clothes, her hair, her face...

I didn't know why, but my lips moved alone to ask.

"And what happened next?"

"We had sex on the carpet."

"Oh."

Again silence, in which only we could hear the bustle of the vehicles on the road and bustle of people who still occupied the street at night.

I had nothing to say, but Scarlett's expression denoted that she still wanted to talk. She sighed heavily.

"Then he fell asleep, so I stole a couple of liquor bottles from his office... and here I am" she finished, and ended up getting a thoughtful expression. She looked at me with a grin. "Are you afraid?"

'Oh, you'll never know...'

"No. No, not really" I lied, trying to keep my calm and relaxed expression. "I see that you had a restless night, maybe you should go to sleep."

Scarlett nodded slowly, leaning back in her chair, watching the starry sky with another sigh. Finally she let out a yawn.

I took her calm expression as a sign to slowly get up from my seat, and get away from her. I thought I'd let you her know that I was going to sleep, but I refrained.

Trying not to make any sudden noise to get her attention, I went to my bedroom with my book pressed tightly against my chest.

I closed my bedroom door and put a chair behind it that night, and though my bed was as comfortable as ever, I couldn't sleep.

* * *

The next morning, dark circles under my eyes were more evident than ever. I poked my head out of my bedroom, to make sure that Scarlett wasn't around.

I sighed with relief, hurrying to lock myself in the bathroom. As soon as I got ready, I inhaled a deep breath and then release it slowly, walking out of there.

I went to the kitchen for breakfast, like every day, trying to ignore the feeling of insecurity that was increasing in my chest.

"Good morning, Noah."

Scarlett's voice, serious and monotonous as it was normal, startled me. I continued serving my coffee in a cup before turning around to face her.

"Good morning, Scarlett" I reciprocated, sitting in front of her, grimacing. "Tell me, are we going to ignore what happened last night?"

"Do you mean my confession of murder? No, I consider it appropriate that we keep it between us as a 'secret', as if it reachs the ears of others, our lives would be at imminent risk."

"Seriously, I can't believe it. How could you... sleep with that dwarf? Yuck, you must really love your work."

Scarlett made a funny expression, a mixture of confusion and disbelief. Finally she formed a crooked smile, shaking her head slightly.

"I don't know how it happened, it just did."

"Am I the only one who thinks it was totally out of character?" I questioned, rolling my eyes. After a moment, I acquired a serious expression." Now, leaving your strong stomach side... really? Did you really kill that girl?"

"Yes. But in my defense, I must say she asked for it. And she deserved it" she said, suddenly raising her chin in a superiority gesture. "However, you must be quiet. While you maintain this in silence, nothing bad will happen. In case you try to report the situation to the authorities, they shall ensure to banish you. And me too."

I sighed heavily, rubbing my hands over my face in exasperation. Scarlett seemed to notice my uncertainty, because she cleared her throat to get my attention, with a slightly softer expression.

"Perhaps you're considering returning to your room in college, or living with your parents again. But I assure you, if you try to get away, it'll only get worse. They'll look for you, and they'll kill you" she said, looking down into her hands, which rested on the table. "Besides... as you've probably noticed, socializing is not one of my best qualities. And you're the closest thing I had to a friend. I tell you my things, you tell me yours... by the way, what happened in your life while I have been busy working for the mafia?"

I didn't pay much attention as I thought of her first words. Yes, I wanted to get out of that apartment, but I certainly didn't want the mafia to kill me.

If I could be safe in that apartment, then I would stay there.

I watched her expression, and noticed that she struggled to seem friendly. I let out a long sigh, before looking at her again.

"I met Cinderhella, we had a couple dates, she's very nice, my literature teacher wants to kill me and I need some rest" I summarized, stirring my coffee with disinterest and boredom. "Oh, and I'm engaged."

"Well, I should have guessed, considering your ethnicity, your family retained some Indian traditions as arranged marriages" she said quietly, taking a sip of tea. "And what about this girl, Nirvana? Does she know?"

"No, and she'll never know. She... has some anger management issues. I've seen how Eva gets when she has an outburst, and I don't want to go through that" I mumbled, again with a slightly annoyed grimace. "In addition to that, it's not even a real engagement. We're just buying time to please our families. Then we will separate and that's it."

Scarlett nodded slightly at my words, to make clear that she understood my intentions and my situation.

After a moment, my brow furrowed a little.

"Did I told you Nirvana's name?" I questioned, quite confused. "I don't remember doing so."

Scarlett seemed surprised by my question, and looked away in a nervous way. She sighed heavily.

"Yes, you told me" shesaid, struggling to form a convincing smile. "How would I know if you hadn't?"

I tried to remember, but I couldn't. I was sure he hadn't said anything. Still, I finally shrugged. Perhaps I had said I, and didn't remember.

Scarlett seemed to calm down at my gesture, and finally formed a small smile.

"Now you see? That's what friends are for" she said then, with a mocking tone in her voice. "Friends support false engagements, friends uncover murders... friendship is wonderful."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't erase a grimace similar to a smile on my face.

"Oh, yeah. Wonderful."

* * *

Hi!

For in this chapter, I can say that a small remnant of what will be the plot of the story appears. The real plot.

Like I warned you up there, the fact that a murder is described implicitly may be offensive, and if so, my apologies.

Now, I'll answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thank you! Yeah, I know. He might think things can't get worse... he's dead wrong.

Artemis Raven Courtney: Oh, let me tell you, she'll find out...

The Abysswalker: Well, Noah is a little coward boy. About his family, his mother wouldn't accept Nirvana at all. Yeah, things get awfully worse. You see, this chapter is like a sneak peek. About that event: I don't know if this counts... but I think it does.

Ali6132: Nope, this won't end well. Yeah, this is a Noah Ohio, but that doesn't mean I'll make things easier for them.

YamazakiXwolf97: Oh, thank you, I feel really honored. I do my best to keep Noah In Character, and I try to make Nirvana as normal as possible (No Mary Sue!). Thanks again!

Well, I think that's all.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	14. Made in Mexico

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Made in Mexico

* * *

Although now I sleep with my door closed properly, Scarlett was doing her best to regain my trust.

She used to act more friendly and less serious, though she was still the same psychopath brainiac to my eyes.

She was still undecided between continuing to work for Max or renounce. She always talked about it when we got home from college, analyzing the pros and cons of the situation.

Among the cons, she would always mention the existing discomfort between the two after their sexual encounter, after the slutty secretary's murder.

Among the pros, she insisted that the salary he received was very juicy, and she couldn't afford to lose all those financial income that would help her in the future.

However, her emotional and professional dilemma wasn't among my main interests.

What interested me was the fact that Nirvana wanted me to meet her mother, while Krisha insisted that we should have a date to 'keep appearances'.

And between the two of them, they had managed to create for me a memorable migraine.

I agreed to go on a date with Krisha a Saturday night, and she wasted no time to tell her mother, who wasted no time to tell mine, who couldn't contain her screams of excitement on the phone when she called to congratulate me.

The worst part of a date in a restaurant and all, was that I had to pay. Why? According to Krisha, 'because it must be that way'. According to me, because we still live in a misogynistic society in which man must always act as a supplier. Meh. Money thrown away.

Scarlett lent me her new car (bought with money she earned cleanly, of course) so I could pick up Krisha. I also had to dress up as elegant as I could, because apparently that stupid restaurant couldn't take my red vest and my cargo pants. Too bad for them, my style is golden.

During the trip to the restaurant, there was some awkwardness between us. 'Cause technically, Krisha was my future wife. However, when we finally arrived at that location, the atmosphere seemed to relax a bit when we sat at our table.

"Well, if we're getting married, I should get to know better" she said as she took her menu to read it. She chuckled at my expression. "Chill out, I'm just kidding. You know, to break the tension and stuff."

"Listen, I have enough with having to procrastinate the purchase of two books to pay for this dinner" I muttered, rolling my eyes. "You better stop your nonsense, okay?"

Krisha grinned, hiding a lock of her straight black hair behind her ear.

"You really have a strong personality" she said, not caring much about my annoyance. "But come down from your cloud for a moment. I'm only trying to make this enjoyable for both of us."

I sighed heavily. That would be very difficult.

Or so I thought.

Although my pocket was already suffering to see the price of dinner, Krisha proved to be 'not-so-unbearable'.

Actually wge had a sense of humor quite acidic and twisted, so she managed to make me laugh a while through the night.

Also, she didn't seem annoyed at my sarcastic comments, but even found them funny.

Late night and I paid the bill with imaginary tears in my eyes, but I had to admit that Krisha wasn't so bad.

In fact, I even liked her. But only a little bit.

* * *

"My mom is peculiar, you know? A little... overprotective."

Nirvana couldn't stop making 'friendly reminders' about her mother. And I could only imagine Mrs. Banks as a monster who desperately wanted to eat my body for dating her daughter.

"You see, I never dated anyone before" continued Nirvana, wringing her hands nervously as we approached her house. "So it's the first time I'll bring a boy for her to meet."

"Is she gonna bite me?" I questioned mockingly, but Nirvana seemed to seriously think before answering.

She grimaced.

"I hope she doesn't."

Finally we got to her house, and she let out a long breath before opening the door.

Was I afraid? No, not really. But I was a bit nervous, 'cause it was the first time a girl introduced me to her family, in this case, her overprotective-soul-eating mother.

I had a right to be nervous.

"Mom, I'm home!" Nirvana yelled, and then, all we heard was silence.

We expected for an answer, but when we didn't get one, she asked me to follow her. And so I did, because duh, I didn't know that house.

Upon entering the kitchen, a redhead and quite tall woman gave us het back, in front of the sink. Nirvana came to her, and laid her hand on her shoulder, startling her.

"You little devil!" she then shouted gleefully, before removing headphones from her ears. "Sorry, I didn't hear you coming."

"Don't worry... Mom, I brought someone for you to meet."

By the poisoned look that woman had in her green eyes when she turned to me, I could swear that she probably heard 'Mom, I brought someone for your satanic sacrifice'.

"Oh, yes. Your internet buddy" she muttered, looking at me up and down. "Tell me, kid, what are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Mom, you promised you wouldn't make cliché questions" murmured Nirvana, completely embarrassed. She rolled her eyes before continuing. "Noah, this is mom. Mom, this is Noah. Give me a moment, I'll be back."

Aha. She left the kitchen quickly, and we heard her footsteps coming up the stairs. I cursed her for a moment, mentally.

How would she think that leaving me alone with her murderous mother would be a good idea?

Well, it wasn't. The woman had crossed her arms and analyzed me with her eyes, to which I could only raise an eyebrow.

"Call me 'Mrs. Banks'. If you call me by my name, I will kill you."

"I don't know your name, 'Mrs. Banks'. I'm not a fortune teller yet."

"Then you're a sarcastic-talker-back, full time?"

"Only eighteen hours a day. Sarcastic-talker-backs like me also need to sleep at night."

Mrs. Banks opened her mouth to release another comment, but the doorbell interrupted her. She cursed before walking by and approaching the door quickly.

"Romeo!" I heard her exclaim with joy in her voice. "Honey, it's good to see you!"

"Thank you, Kylie" answered a male voice, which made me slightly furrow my brow. "Dad sends you this... and is Nirvana at home?"

I sneak peeked from the doorway. And by 'sneak peeking' I mean that half of my body was out of the kitchen. I'm very sneaky peeky, you see.

Then I saw the newcomer, who was obviously a boy. I could tell he was about my age by seeing his face and stocky build, but he had a friendly smile on his face as he gave cardboard bag to the hostess.

"Yes, she's in her room" replied the woman, with the same cheerful tone. Then she lowered her voice to a hiss. "And she even brought a little gift..."

"Yeah, I see" said the boy, and actually, he saw me

I had no time to react because then heard footsteps coming quickly down the stairs, and I turned to see Nirvana. Damn, I was relieved to see her.

She just walked to me, and I jumped a little when she took my hand, smiling at the boy who had just arrived. She almost dragged me towards them.

"This is great, I wanted you guys to meet each other" she exclaimed, but I was more focused on her hand squeezing mine and the grimace that the young newcomer acquired. "Noah, this is Romeo, my best friend. Romeo, this is Noah, my... the guy I told you about."

Romeo narrowed his hazel eyes turning toward me, extending his hand in my direction.

"Romeo de los Santos" he said, with the same suspicious expression. "Por fin te conozco, chico de la tele."

I shook his hand briefly with a nod, frowning a little because I didn't quite understood anything he said.

"Romeo, Noah doesn't know Spanish" Nirvana recalled with a chuckle, and he just gave her a small smile

"I know."

"Nirvana, Romeo brought us bread, fresh from the oven" interrupted her mother, hugging the cardboard bag like it was a baby. "He's so friendly and nice..."

"You know that's no problem for us" he replied kindly to her (unnecessary in my not-humble opinion), with a brief wave of his hand. "El amor, con amor se paga."

No, I didn't understand again, but at least now I knew that was Spanish. The boy managed to remind me of Alejandro, and that made me frown a little more. I didn't like him much, actually.

Just then I looked down at his shirt, and I read three words printed on it.

'Made in Mexico'

Oh. What a nice guy. That explained everything.

"I'm going to prepare lunch" announced Mrs. Banks, before resting her hand on Romeo's shoulder. "Are you staying for lunch, darling?"

"I'd love to, but dad needs me in the bakery" he excused himself, shaking his head slightly before turning to Nirvana. "See you later, y cuídate mucho."

"I will, see you later" she said, smiling sweetly as she rocked her free hand to say goodbye.

He just smiled back, before turning to me with a suspicious expression on his face. However, he walked away without saying anything. I was grateful for that in my mind.

Nirvana didn't say anything, either, only walked me to the front door again, still holding my hand.

"Won't you stay for lunch?" asked her mother, to which she just shook her head slightly. "Okay... but be careful with what you do."

"Yes, mom."

"And you have to get here early..."

"Sure, mom."

"... or I'll go pick you up myself!"

"Goodbye, mom."

Finally she closed the door with a sigh. I must admit, I also let out some air, relieved to be out of that house. Nirvana gave me a sheepish look.

"Sorry about that... but I warned you" she muttered then, shrugging

"You didn't warn me about your... best friend?" I murmured, arching an eyebrow skeptically. "It's funny how he acts like he's your boyfriend or something."

Nirvana chuckled, giving me a harmless hit in the arm with her free hand as she shook her head.

"Romeo is like my brother, I told you before" she said quietly, but grimaced. "Mom says we make a cute couple.. but you see, mom is crazy."

"You said it, not me" I mumbled, just before remembering she was squeezing my hand for some time and looking down

She did too, and acquired a slightly startled expression as she blushed violently.

"Does it bother you...?"

"I didn't say that. I didn't said anything, actually" I said, shrugging with a small smile. "You only took me by surprise."

"I'm full of surprises. You haven't seen anything yet."

It was her turn to smirk when I felt my cheeks redden, but I didn't know if it was because of her unconsciously suggestive tone, or for what she said.

"Whatever" I mumbled, looking away and snorting. "What would you like to do now?"

Nirvana giggled again, and gave a gentle squeeze to my hand before answering.

"I don't know. I think I owe you a nap."

* * *

Hi!

Time to update. I had a hard week, but I'm fine now.

Apparently I've won a flamer/hater, who bothered to insult me in the comments for no apparent reason. I won't stoop to their level, but I will say a couple of things.

I know who you are. And you won't break me, no matter what you say. You're not worth it.

Leaving that aside, I'll answer your reviews.

GeM216: Thanks! Sorry for disturbing you... I hope you liked this chapter!

Ali6132: Thanks! Oh, no, it's not bad at all! I know, right? Scarlett is hilarious. And yeah, we'll see about Noah and Nirvana... Bye!

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Yeah, I know! We'll see what happens...

ElizabethLifeStone: Thank you!

Artemis Raven Courtney: Well, maybe Scarlett essential feeling overwhelmed with adrenaline after the murder, and Max was near... and it just happened.

YamazakiXwolf97: Yay! You won't guess what's about to happen!

The Abysswalker: I know... well, Noah wants to keep himself alive and that's why he's staying there. I would like to read your theory. Bye!

That's all for now. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	15. Oh, jeez

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Oh, jeez

* * *

Working in the library, as I had said before, was easy and probably should not be strenuous.

But when you sleep only a few hours, eat the first thing you find and spend more time studying than breathing, everything seems to be more exhausting.

And when you come home, and all you want to do is to take a nap, and your fellow psychopath apartment partner alerts you that has come to you a mysterious letter that she received, you have a right to feel tired, frustrated and fucked.

"I really don't want to do this."

"I know. I don't want to attend either, if you ask me" she added, although I hadn't asked anything. "But maybe it's an opportunity to know more about the hidden clause in the contract."

I rolled my eyes, looking down again to the letter, which had proved that be a cheesy invitation to a meeting between former participants of Total Drama, very kindly organized by Mike and his girlfriend the redhead who's-name-I-can't-remember, actually called Zoey.

"I doubt it" I mumbled, leaving the invitation on the kitchen table carelessly. "Probably it'll only be a gooey meeting for all seasons to see how is everyone doing, something completely unnecessary if we consider that we walk by each other in the hallways occasionally and pretend we're too busy."

Scarlett grimaced, apparently frustrated at not getting something important to refute my words.

What's worse is that probably I was right.

* * *

I was right.

Those meetings were a nightmare in real life.

Who organized the meeting was decided by chance, and I can assure you that if fate decided that I had to, there would be no meeting.

The truth is that I didn't like to see those people. Why? Because some of them were part of my daily life, somehow or another, and I honestly didn't care about the others.

However, there I was again. Hoping that this was over or someone would shoot me in the head, whichever came first.

"I really don't want to be here."

Scarlett, beside me, sighed heavily at my complaint. And I don't blame her, it was the tenth time I was repeating the same.

"I know. I understand that there's some people that you don't want to see" she muttered, throwing an assassin look to the farmer blonde who was watching her from across the room. "You're not the only one."

"Meh. I actually don't care about them" I mumbled, crossing my arms tightly. I made a face. "But there is one person in particular that I don't want to see."

I could see sideways as Scarlett arched her eyebrows at my words, as if she knew who I was talking about.

"Interesting" she said quietly, watching with mild curiosity. "Let me guess... does this person belong to the cast of Pahkitew Island?"

I turned to look at her with a slightly incredulous expression, and nodded once. She smirked, and approached me one step further.

"And I bet that 'he' isn't here yet" she ventured softly, almost inaudible

"That's right" I muttered, frowning slightly at her almost suggestive stare. "I don't know what you're thinking, but I warn you that whatever you do, everyone will see you."

Scarlett only laughed under her breath, and went a step further, I took a step away. I was about to question my future in the next five seconds until I hear 'his' voice.

"Noah! Noah, it's good to see you!"

I sighed deeply, between relieved and annoyed at the interruption. Scarlett frowned, turning to his voice and looking surprised to see who it belonged to.

"Were you talking about... him?" she asked, still impressed

"Duh, of course" I muttered, rolling my eyes in exasperation. "Who else could I be talking about?"

Scarlett didn't answer, she just stood there as if she had seen a ghost, or naked Owen. I shrugged, turning to the image of my cousin approaching us cheerfully, dragging his reluctant girlfriend by the hand.

When he arrived, he released the girl's hand to hug me briefly (against my will, obviously).

"Hello, Dave."

"My mom asked me to congratulate you for your engagement!" he exclaimed, pulling away to get his disinfectant cream and pour a little on his hands. "Congratulations, cousin!"

"Cousin?" said Scarlett then suddenly regaining her ability to speak, watching me with a slightly puzzled expression

"Yeah, about that... no one was supposed to know.

"It was in my contract" Dave said with a huge smile, but after a moment he uncertainly made a grimace. "You guys know each other...?"

"We live together" I said, though without much enthusiasm actually. Seeing the look of my cousin and his girlfriend, I rolled my eyes. "We share an apartment, that's all."

"Oh... well, you're not the only one who will soon get married" Dave remarked, before rounding his girlfriend's shoulders with his arm. "Right, Sky?"

"Actually..." the girl made an awkward grin, though she strove to form a small smile. "We need to talk..."

Just then, Mike and Zoey said that we all were there, and I realized that we were surrounded by familiar faces. I sighed wearily.

I turned to Scarlett, but she wasn't by my side. Out of curiosity I looked for her, only to find her next to her boss, several feet away.

If I said that the purple dwarf looked like in his first appearance in front of the cameras, I would be telling a big lie.

I mean, it even seemed like he had grown up a couple centimeters, and he would comb his hair back elegantly and let an incipient goatee grow.

Oh, jeez.

* * *

"All right, who wants to talk now?"

I couldn't help sighing heavily at Zoey's voice. Not that I didn't like the girl, I actually didn't know her, but her and her boyfriend's talent for bearable meetings was zero.

Since when meeting includes a decent sit in a hippie round to take turns and talk about our lives? Since Mike, or Zoey, or both in a fit of romantic and cheesy inspiration thought about it.

"Oh, I'll speak now, if you don't mind" spoke another female voice, and I made a huge effort not to roll my eyes when I saw its owner. I'm very glad to see you all again. If any of you di doesn't remember me, my name is Ella."

Some of them murmured greetings, and others -like me- just kept quiet to hear what she had to say and leave as soon as possible.

"Well, a few months ago, I auditioned for the role of Cinderella in the new adaptation that premiered recently" reported the girl dressed all in pink, with a small sad smile. "Obviously I didn't get the role..."

Someone gave a harsh laugh at that, and everyone looked back to the blonde who laughed. She stopped, looking strangely at everyone.

"What? I thought it was a hilarious joke!"

"I'm glad you find the fun of every situation, Sugar" Ella said with a grimace that looked like a smile

When Zoey asked again the same for the fifteenth time that night, I couldn't help but snort. And almost immediately, all eyes were on me.

Fabulous.

"Noah, would you like to talk next?" questioned Zoey, while her boyfriend dedicating me a grimace

"No, not really" I muttered, shrugging indifferently. "But I know I'll probably have to give in to peer's pressure and talk sooner or later."

There were a couple of whispers then, and some of them still looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and frustration. Meh. Being the center of attention was never my best talent.

"My little buddy isn't doing bad at all" said Owen, to which Izzy gave a scandalous mischievous giggle. "He even has a girlfriend!"

"Noah has a girlfriend?" questioned Duncan aloud, nudging Geoff with a wry smile. "I wonder what kind of crazy bitch would fall for him..."

Several derisive laughter from my lovely former castmates were heard, but I just rolled my eyes in exasperation. Not worth wasting my time with them.

"Why do you want me to talk, anyways?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders quietly. "To feel a little better about your miserable lives? And I'm not saying it just to say something. Everything I've heard tonight, are complaints and lamentations. Long life to originality."

Then the laughter and whispers stopped. I got poisoned glares from them, and I smirked. Oh, yes, it feels good to annoy them again.

"What about you?" questioned Heather suddenly, arms crossed and an arched eyebrow. "You're the most pessimistic person here!"

"And I do better than you because I'm always right and everything ends badly. And if not, then I'm pleasantly surprised. It's win-win."

Another silence, broken only by a muffled laughter.

"Well, well" Max murmured with a small crooked smile. "The optimistic side of pessimism."

However, some of them began to look at each other, perhaps questioning whether I was right or not. Finally, Cody cleared his throat.

"Soon ago I got a job at an electronics store" he said, shrugging with a small smile. "And I think that's a good thing."

"I got a contract with a multinational company that works on milk distribution" announced then another voice, and some were surprised to see who was speaking. The robust boy blushed a little when receiving attention. "The farm is very successful."

"Oh, and do you make a lot of money, Robert?" questioned a blond girl, pushing aside a girl that looked identical to her but lacked a mole on her cheek

"I'm Rodney."

"Yeah, that's what I said."

Just then, two people stood up from the ground, holding hands. The boy cleared his throat loudly, apparently nervous.

"Well... Jasmine and I are getting married in a few months" he said, grimacing much like a smile while the brunette girl at his side showed a modest ring to the girls who approached her excitedly

"We planned to tell everyone when we a date for the wedding, but..." she shrugged, laughing a little. "Also, Jasmine's Killer Jasmines, the business we opened a few years ago, is a success."

Some girls released excited exclamations while they analyzed that ring, while others were congratulating them amicably. Only a few of us stayed in our places, out of laziness or lack of interest.

Among the pseudo-crowd around Shawn and Jasmine, were my cousin and his girlfriend, who was congratulating her engaged friend.

"Now that we are talking about happy things, and especially marriages!" exclaimed Dave, with a huge smile and attracting everyone's attention. "Sky and I also are getting married!"

That generated more excitement and emotion among most of them, while those who remained away seemed indifferent to the issue. For my part, I could just limit myself to facepalm, sighing.

"Um... actually..." while receiving several congratulations, Sky seemed more nervous than before, wringing her hands. "Dave, we need to..."

"We haven't decided the day, but soon we will!"

"Dave, seriously..."

"You're all invited!"

"I'm not gonna marry you, Dave!"

Funereal silence.

Everyone, even those who were not interested in the matter, turned at once to find out what was happening. Dave seemed cut and shocked, trying to speak but could only stammer.

"I'm sorry, I..." muttered Sky, apparently regaining her composure after her outburst. She sighed heavily. "Dave, I told you that although I respect your culture and your beliefs... I don't share them. I will not marry you."

Dave was silent, like all of us. After a few minutes that seemed eternal, he simply turned around and left, closing the door.

Only then, Max let loose a shocking and cruel laughter, while Scarlett by his side tried to suppress a mischievous giggle. Others joined them with unprecedented euphoria, including Alejandro, Heather, a jockette named Jo and the blonde that had laughed at Ella before.

While Sky, between embarrassed and upset, began to confront them for their disrespect, I sighed as I stood up with some difficulty, to guide myself to the door and follow Dave.

Maybe I'm not the most empathetic guy in the world, but I know when someone needs a shoulder to cry on.

* * *

Hi!

Yep, me again, as every week. Although the theory that Noah and Dave are cousins in canon doesn't seem very feasible, I really like it. So here they're cousins.

I don't have much more to say... so I'll answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thank you! I always try to do my best.

Artemis Raven Courtney: Drama knows how to find him! I know, he's got a lot to deal with... and this isn't all.

The Abysswalker: Yeah, both of their mothers are... special. Well, your theory is gold, and maybe it'll happen. You'll have to read to find out!

GeM216: Thank you! Oh, I know! Hope you like this chapter.

Ali6132: Thanks! And I really like your song! Thank you for your words, I appreciate it. No, I won't let anyone take me down. About the chapter, maybe you'll change your mind about Romeo later... or maybe not. Hope you liked this chapter, bye!

Dolly: Hey! Thanks again, for reading and reviewing!

Okay, now that's all. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	16. Where do broken hearts go?

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Where do broken hearts go?

* * *

Even though I looked for Dave after he left the meeting, I couldn't find him. I tried to call him but he didn't answer his phone.

I admit I was a little concerned for his safety. I just got home with Scarlett (who continued to laugh at times about the situation), and I called my mother to ask if she knew anything about him.

She said he had come to his house and had locked himself in his room, and that my aunt had called her because she was really worried. My mother also asked me if I knew what had happened. I just denied it and hung up.

I tried to contact him, for a week, but he never responded to any of my calls. So one Saturday morning I had the misfortune of waking up early and heading to his house.

I rarely visited his parents' house after my thirteenth birthday. The last time I was there, it was because my mother forced me, like my brothers. So I wasn't surprised to see my aunt Talisha's shocked expresion when she saw me at the door.

"Noah?"

"Yes, that's me" I mumbled, trying not to roll my eyes in front of her. "I would like to see Dave..."

"Oh, my little Dave" she interrupted me, stepping aside to let me in. "He hasn't been out of his room for weeks. Not even to take a shower."

I winced to hear that, especially since Dave was feeling really bad if he was ignoring his hygiene like that.

Still I decided to go upstairs to his room. I remembered where it was, we used to spend whole afternoons playing games when we were children.

When I was reaching his door, I could clearly hear some music that in the room was at full volume. Rise Against, surely 'Savior' as I could recognize. Great, depressing break up songs.

I hit the door with my knuckles a few times, but no avail. Sighing heavily, I started banging on the door with my fist.

"Open the door, Dave!"

I continued until I heard the music fall silent and saw the doorknob turned, so I stopped. The door opened slightly, and there my cousin looked out.

His appearance was deplorable, from his tousled hair to his swollen and red from crying eyes. He gave me a puzzled look for a moment, as if he didn't recognize me.

"Noah...?" he mumbled, looking at me up and down. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same" I muttered, wincing at the furious smell coming from his room. "Was it really necessary to give up on soap and water?"

"Why would I bathe, if I won't get out of here? Also, they are my germs. I donot mind them."

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, sighing deeply. He studied me for a moment before trying to close the door again, but I put my foot in the doorway to stop it.

"No, Dave, this is serious" I assured him, frowning slightly at his lack of interest. "I understand you're suffering, but..."

"You don't understand anything!" he claimed then completely annoyed. "You're getting married, and I'm not!"

To that, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I pushed him inside his room before he could react, and closed the door behind me. He saw me reproachfully, but I took the lead.

"I'm not going to get married, Dave" I clarified, pretty tired of all the situation. "I'm not getting married being as young as I am."

"B-But... you're engaged..."

"It's a farce."

Dave stood there staring at me for a moment, blinking several times in succession, confused. Finally he quickly shook his head, frowning.

"Do you think that marriage is a joke?!" he bellowed then, apparently angry. "You can't just make fun of your family like that!"

"And you can't just force a girl to suit your habits, demanding her tacitly to make such an important decision as marrying you only because YOUR beliefs indicate so!"

Dave opened his mouth to retaliate, but stopped before any word escaped his lips. He stood still, watching me with a look of discomfort on his face.

I facepalmed at his blank expression, totally frustrated.

"Listen, I respect that you want to fulfill this family's expectations" I mumbled, sighing heavily. "But you should respect that I don't want to do the same. And especially, you should understand why Sky left."

Dave looked down at the ground with a weary sigh, and went to bed, brushing from his mattress a few empty packets of chips to sit down.

"I pushed too much, didn't I?" he muttered then, hiding his face in his hands. "I'm an asshole."

I didn't answer, because surely confirming his words wouldn't help much. I just sat down beside him, saying nothing.

He took his hands from his face, and looked up slowly, turning to me.

"I just wish I could apologize to her" he murmured, smiling wryly. "And... sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."

I shrugged my shoulders to downplay the situation. I grimaced at him.

"You need to get out of here, dude" I said, looking at him with precaution. "And you need to bathe urgently."

Dave laughed under his breath at that, nodding slightly to confirm that, with a little grimace at his own body aroma.

"I will, no doubt about it" he said, shrugging before forming a mischievous smile. "Now... can you tell me about your 'engagement'?"

"Not much to tell, but if you want to know, I just don't want to get married and my 'fiancee' either. We just want some peace."

"Aha... what does your girlfriend say?"

"Now what are you talking about?"

"Owen mentioned it in... that meeting" he remembered, with a tiny pained grimace at those words, but almost immediately he got rid of it. "Well, why didn't you tell me?"

"Firstly, because she's not my girlfriend. We're just dating" I clarified with a slightly annoyed grimace. "Secondly, why would I tell you? It's nothing important."

"Say that to your blushed cheeks" he mocked, to which I just rolled my eyes, looking away. "Okay, just kidding. Tell me, was she furious when she found out?"

"No, because didn't find out" I mumbled, shrugging indifferently. "It's not relevant, and it'll only last a couple of months. Then I'll forget about my 'fiancée' and everything will be as if nothing had happened."

Dave was silent for a moment, watching me as if trying to read my mind and failing completely. Finally he grimaced, shaking his head slightly.

"Dude... you're smart and probably don't need my advice" he muttered then, sighing heavily. "But if you're interested, I recommend you to tell her the truth."

"I'm going to pretend that I'm interested for a moment, why would I tell her?"

"Only to be honest. Life takes many turns, and you might regret not telling the truth when you could."

I could see in his face a trace of sadness that returned and tortured him, so I sighed. And though I tried to forget about it, it was almost impossible to me.

* * *

Dave got out of his room, and bathed. And I had to pay the price.

Why? Because after his moment of self-hatred and stubbornness, Dave wanted his first time to the outside world after a voluntary confinement for almost a month, would be with me. And with Shawn. And Cody. And Owen. And Nirvana.

Oh, yes. If I was going to hell, I would drag with me anyone I had at my disposal. Except Scarlett, of course, because by the time I wasn't interested in wearing a bullet in the brain.

Owen accepted right away, excited to be able to help in the emotional recovery of someone else. Cody also accepted, especially because he was Dave's friend by RPGs and the fact that both of them were rejected by the girl of their dreams. Nirvana accepted because she wanted to keep me company, and because I promised to buy three books of her choice. It sounded fair when she said it.

The fact was that a week after my visit to the stinking room of my voluble cousin, I was at the entrance of a cinema with Nirvana, Owen and Cody. And I wasn't very happy.

"Izzy made me a tattoo the other day. My butt still hurts."

"Dude, why did you give her permission to tattoo your butt?"

"Who said I gave her permission...?"

Nirvana was listening closely to Owen and Cody, as they wandered quietly. And while I wasn't paying much attention, I found out that Cody and Sierra were already over, Owen had adopted a puppy that Izzy had named Scope, and both of them had similar problems with their literature teacher. Yes, the same one that hates me and needs to get laid.

I was actually quite distracted. I couldn't stop thinking about the conversation I had with Dave after telling her about the fake engagement, and about Nirvana.

I knew he was probably right, and speaking from experience. But a part of me imagined Nirvana reacting in a violent and frightening way. Yes, I'm a coward, but I have the courage to admit it.

I sighed heavily, trying to take courage as I approached Nirvana to take her hand and walk away silently from my friends.

As already eleven years ago, she followed me without questioning anything, quietly.

Finally I stopped and turned around to face her. She gave me a small warm smile.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the left

"Actually, yes" I admitted, wincing as I dropped her hand. "There's something I haven't told you."

"You're not going to buy those three books?"

"Yes, I'm. It's not that..."

"Did you kill someone?"

"That wasn't me... I mean, just listen" I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose with some frustration. "Remember when I told you about the importance of marriage in Indian culture?"

"Yep, it was when you told me about your sister and her failed marriage" she said, shrugging quietly before getting a frightened expression. "Are you going to propose...?"

"No! Actually..." I was silent, watching her expression of slight relief. I sighed. "I'm actually engaged. But it's false! My mother wanted to engage, so I had to do it! My 'fiancée' does not want to marry, it's just a farce..."

But I decided to shut up at her empty expression. She blinked silently, and a part of me expected for a moment that she began to scream and complain.

"Is that all?" she questioned, looking at me with curiosity. I nodded, doubtful, and she smiled a bit before shrugging. "All right."

"All right?"

"All right."

It was my turn to look at her curiously, and some distrust. She laughed a little at that, before speaking again.

"What? Did you expect me to get furious, hit you in the head with a shovel and bury you in the middle of a dense forest?"

"Yeah, kind of" I said, although I obviously felt more relieved to see her calm reaction

"That's what my family would do, probably" she muttered with a little grimace of discomfort before returning to smile understandingly. "Obviously I don't like that you hid it from me, but... it would be hypocritical of me to be angry."

I raised my eyebrows at her words, quite confused, but didn't have time to express it when she sought support on my shoulders to stand on tiptoe and caress my lips with hers.

It took me a couple of seconds before reacting. No, it wasn't my first kiss. It was our first kiss. And it lasted less than I would have expected.

Nirvana pulled away in the moment when we heard Dave and his friend Shawn's voices when they arrived. She smiled sweetly with a sigh, dropping a few words that failed to calm my confusion.

"The less you know, the better."

* * *

Hi!

Me again. I think I already have this fanfic planned, even the ending. That's a good thing.

I also would like to say that I made a request to Skyhitz, and she drew a beautiful fanart! If you want to see it, you can find it here -you only have to delete the parenthesis-: (http:)/(fav).(me)/(d8tdpul)

Now, I'll answer your reviews.

Ali6132: Thank you! I know, it doesn't make sense, but I really like the idea! I usually call them Noahna, but Nirah sounds even better! Thank you so much! Bye!

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thanks! And yeah, Noah has a heart too!

Artemis Raven Courtney: I know... I really doubt they'll be back together...

The Abysswalker: I was waiting for your review! Thank you! Well, I like Mike and Zoey, but I don't love them. Oh, no. It's not weird at all.

Dolly: I know, but I really doubt they'll make things better...

I guess that's all for now. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	17. What the hell?

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

What the...?

* * *

I felt quite uncomfortable in college, having to attend classes and pretend that I wasn't an indirect accomplice to a murder.

And although I had no reason to feel guilty, yet I felt it was unfair to keep myself quiet like that. That thought had accompanied me for days, but I had managed to successfully ignore it.

Until that Monday morning, at the university's main staircase, that thought returned to me. Probably the dead girl had a family, did they know that she was associated with the Mafia? Were they desperately looking for her? Or they had heard that they would never see her alive again?

I couldn't help but rub my hands over my face in frustration. I needed to say something, tell someone... but I didn't want to drag no one with me into my personal hell.

I could feel Owen's insistent gaze on me and I mentally appreciated the fact that he didn't interrupt me when retrofitting.

However, silence also weighed on my shoulders, and I needed to break it.

"I have to tell you something" I muttered straightway, looking up. "But you cannot tell anyone, or I'll get in trouble."

"Sure, buddy" he assured, looking at me carefully. "What's going on?"

I sighed heavily, trying to clear my thoughts and find the right way to say it without scaring him for life.

"Listen, remember that I've been living with Scarlett several months?" I mumbled, seeing him nod slightly beside me. "Well... she committed a very serious crime. And I think I'm technically accomplice."

"Did she rob a bank?" he questioned in a mixture of curiosity and fear. I shook my head and he furrowed his brow slightly. "Who did she kill?"

"Max's secretary. Oh, and then she slept with him."

I expected an immediate reaction, but that didn't happen. My best friend just stared at me, before laughing nervously.

"Just you're being sarcastic with me... right?"

"Nope."

Then his eyes opened exorbitantly, his hands took my shoulders to shake me a little.

"Buddy, that's pretty fucked up!" he exclaimed, obviously losing his composure. "You gotta get out of there ASAP!"

"Believe me, I don't intend to share an apartment with a murderer any longer" I mumbled, trying to break free of his grip, succeeding at last. "But she warned me, if I try to get away, they'll kill me. It is what might be called a 'lose-lose'."

Owen lamented a little more loudly, and I could see in his eyes a few tears of concern. After a few moments he sighed, wrapping his big arms around me.

"Don't worry, little buddy... I promise that no one will hear of this."

* * *

"Then your psycho girlfriend killed someone, huh?! When were you going to tell me?!"

At Izzy's frighteningly cheerful cry, I turned to my best friend, who swallowed loudly, nervous.

"I can't hide anything from Izzy, buddy" he said, shrugging apologetically with a grin. "But relax, she's like a grave."

"Who killed who?" questioned Eva, who had just sat down on the carpet next to me

Izzy, who was sitting on the couch next to Owen, jumped up and sat beside her, holding her by the shoulders.

"Izzy will tell you everything! Noah's psycho girlfriend went bananas and killed someone!"

That way the great 'idea' to meet and watch movies at Owen's home became a disaster of industrial proportions.

Because Izzy was like a grave, those gloomy graves that appear in horror movies, open and waiting for a poor victim to fall inside.

When Eva gave me a confused and questioning look, I rolled my eyes.

"She's not my girlfriend" I explained, shrugging indifferently

"And she hasn't killed anyone, right?"

"Actually, that's true."

Eva was silent, trying to figure out if I was serious or not. Finally he concluded that he was not joking and blanched.

"It's true?! That wussy brainiac killed someone?!" she asked, frowning at once

"And then she fucked her boss!" Izzy added cheerfully, then turned to me with what was supposed to be a sympathetically expression. "Poor Noah... can you tell us how does betrayal taste?"

"She. Isn't. My. Girlfriend" I mumbled, beginning to lose my patience. "I don't even know where you got that from..."

"Oh, too bad... so the baby isn't yours?"

We all stayed in silence at Izzy's words, and exchanged glances quickly, confused.

"The baby?" I repeated, in complete confusion

"Yeah, the baby!" she said, releasing a mischievous laugh. "Izzy was in a college bathroom, trying mess up all the toilets, when Scarlett ran into a cubicle and began to throw up her lunch!"

"Izzy, that doesn't mean she's pregnant" Owen said with a small conciliatory smile towards his girlfriend. "Maybe she was feeling kinda sick..."

"No, no, Izzy knows what she says!" she refuted, crossing her arms in a stubborn attitude. "She began to mourn in the cubicle, cursing 'the thing'! The thing is a baby, of course!"

"The thing can be anything" Eva muttered dryly, rolling her eyes. "The important thing here is that she killed someone..."

"The important thing here is that all of you should shut up and forget about it, so I can keep on living for a while" I interrupted with a weary sigh of resignation. "If you don't mind, of course."

* * *

I tried several things to distract myself from that. I tried to read, I tried to play video games, I tried to decipher the meaning of life, but nothing worked.

That was why I was sitting beside Nirvana, in front of the TV, again. Somehow she managed to distract me, either trying to beat me at some video games or with long make out sessions.

The second option was more appealing at the moment, so our finished game (which I won, by the way) continued paused in the TV screen.

Scarlett spent less time in the apartment, even less than before. That night, it didn't seem strange that she hadn't yet returned from college.

A knock at the door interrupted my concentration, and Nirvana just pulled away, frowning slightly.

"Are you waiting for anyone?" she murmured, and I could only shake my head, shrugging

Just then, the knocks were repeated in the same order and intensity. Three knocks, a pause, and three more knocks.

I could see Nirvana's expression transforming relaxed to horrified. She kept my face in her hands, looking into my eyes.

"Don't say anything" she begged in a whisper almost impossible to hear

I was about to disobey, quite confused and exasperated, when another voice interrupted me before speaking.

"Open the door, we know you're there!"

It was a male voice, serious and with an unbearable mockingly tone. He knocked again. Three, pause, three.

Nirvana stifled a sob, though I could see tears shining in her blue eyes. Understanding that I should remain silent but without understanding why, I tried to calm her down by gently stroking her red hair.

"If you don't open at the count of three, I'll take the door down and kill him!" threatened the same voice, banging the door with the same previous rate before letting out a laugh. "We know he's there with you... you don't want him to die, right?"

Then I realized that we were in serious trouble, for some reason or another. Besides, the guy at the door spoke directly to Nirvana. And I was going to die.

Then she sobbed, burying her face in my neck, and I could just hold her against me as I felt an immense fear invade me.

"Here we go! Three...!" cried the voice, and I could feel a shiver run down my spine. "Two...!"

Nirvana left me suddenly, and without time even for a warning cry to escape from my throat, she ran to the door and opened it wide.

"Take me, but leave him alone!"

I could hear Nirvana's nervous cry, and I could see the man at the door when I jumped up. The guy was huge, and pointed his gun toward where the door was before, and around him were two or three other men.

"Girl, you still believe in Santa Claus, don't you?" scoffed the man with the deep voice, raising his eyes to see me when I approached Nirvana. "You'll both come with us."

The other three men entered the apartment at the moment I took Nirvana by her shoulders to get her away from them.

I understood nothing, I knew I couldn't defend us both, and I still tried not to give up easily.

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing here?" I snapped in what I hoped was a threatening tone, but it just got grins on their part

"Less talk and more action" muttered the leader, also entering with his gun held high. "Cooperate and you won't die... yet."

Two of the men who had just entered took Nirvana abruptly away from me, while the third one held my arms twisting them, or whatever that caused me so much pain.

I tried to resist, helplessly watching the two guys get Nirvana out of the apartment.

"I'm so sorry, Noah...!" she shouted, amid her uncontrollable sobs

I felt like running to her and comfort her, take her away from all the nonsense that was going on around us.

However, the burly guy with the gun in his hand gave a triumphant laugh as he approached, smiling crookedly.

"Our boss will be very pleased" he boasted, looking for complicity in the man who was behind me. He creepily smiled. "Good night, tragic lover."

That was the last thing I heard before I felt a sharp pain in my head when a heavy object hit me, making everything around me disappear and run off into an intense darkness.

* * *

*lame suspense music plays* (?)

Hi!

Yep, me again. New update, new chapter. I hope you liked it... a lot of things happened here!

You can tell me your theories, suggestions and opinions!

Now, I'll answer your reviews!

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thank you. I know, Nirvana needs to be understanding; anyway, she's hiding something...

Artemis Raven Courtney: Yeah, but that's not necessarily good!

Ali6132: Thanks! Yeah, she thinks that way... and soon you'll know why. Oh, I loved that line too! I laughed while writing it! Bye!

The Abysswalker: I've been waiting for you, it's good to read you! I understand. Soon you'll know why she reacted that way. Yeah, I'm really curious about The Ridonculous Race! Well, bye!

I guess that's all for now. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	18. The white rabbit hops

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

The white rabbit hops

* * *

The pain in my head was unbearable, and seemed to spread through my body.

I could feel on my tongue the taste of blood that at the time, had dried on my face. I wanted to open my eyes, but they didn't seem to obey.

I tried to move, but I realized that my hands were firmly tied, together, at the back of the chair where I was sitting, like my feet on the ground.

I started to feel an incipient pain in my neck, probably for keeping my head tilted my chest. I raised my head slowly, opening my eyes.

Then I muttered a silent curse, when I felt the powerful light of an mercilessly hurt me. My eyes began to slowly get used to the light.

I tried to recognize the place where I was, but I had never been there before. It was much like the rooms where the police interrogates suspects in television series, including one of those one-way mirrors.

Thanks to it, I could see Nirvana's reflection right next to me. I immediately turned to her, ignoring the throbbing pain in my neck.

I noticed that her right eye, all I could see from my position, was purple probably because of punch. I guessed she had both eyes closed, and maybe she wasn't even conscious, tied to her corresponding chair.

"Nirvana..." I called her, although it just came out like a scraping sound. "Nirvana..."

She shifted a little bit, letting out a slight groan when she turned her head toward me. I saw that her lip was bleeding a little, and she still managed to smile a little.

"Noah..." she corresponded weakly, before acquiring a pained expression. "Noah, I'm so sorry..."

"It's not your fault" I mumbled, trying in vain to get rid of the pressure on my hands. "It's okay..."

"Yes, it's my fault!" she cried, sobbing quietly. "You don't know...!"

Just then, the sound of a door opening abruptly managed startle us both. We didn't even strive to see who it was, we only stared into each other's eyes, waiting.

Footsteps echoed in the quiet room, interrupting the song of our heavy breathing and runaway hearts.

Finally, a person stood in front of us and loudly cleared his throat to get our attention.

Looking up, I couldn't hide the expression of extreme disbelief that my face acquired.

"Max?"

He almost gave me a withering look, analyzing me from top to bottom with a grin, stroking his goatee thoughtfully.

"Ugh... the two look awful" he said then, before turning to Nirvana. "I told them not to hurt you guys too much, but... dogs are like that, sometimes they disobey and need to be punished..."

"Let him go!" roared Nirvana, and her furious tone of voice managed to take me off guard. "He has nothing to do with this, motherfucker!"

"Hey! My mom still likes you!" he claimed, without real anger in his voice. "Come on, take it easy."

"Fuck that! You let him go or I swear I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!"

Both Max and I saw her struggling with herself, completely out of control. She reminded me a lot to the reaction that Eva had when she lost a kickboxing match against Jo.

So that was an anger outburst. Oh, great.

"Why, you're crazy... well, this is going to take longer than expected" Max murmured, more to himself than to us. "Sidekick! Bring me a chair!"

The door opened again after a few moments, and the sound of high heels on the floor accompanied Nirvana's angry and erratic breathing.

I shouldn't have been surprised when I saw the tired and even boring expression that Scarlett had, but a part of me did. She didn't even gave me a look.

"Thank you, dear" Max mumbled, taking the chair and putting it right in front of Nirvana to sit backwards, that is, he supported his arms on the back of it. "Will you calm down or you'll need a slap? I know Scarlett would gladly help you in that case."

I could see a crooked little smile appear on Scarlett's face at that, but she still refused to look at me. Nirvana was breathing heavily, but gradually began to subside.

I felt the urgent need to speak, fill that unbearable silence that had formed. However, I couldn't. Words were stuck in my throat.

"You know why you're here" the purple dwarf said, breaking the silence. "If I were you, I would make things easier for everyone."

"If I were you, I would let him go" Nirvana replied, apparently calmer. "He has nothing to do here."

"Well, technically you're wrong" he corrected, and turned to me with a little grin. "You didn't tell her anything, right?"

I was reeling from the blows and the blinding light, but I still understood what he meant. Nirvana gave me a questioning and slightly disappointed look.

"No" I admitted, trying not to sound as affected as I was. "I thought you didn't want anyone to know."

"Exactly. No one must know. Not even you."

At that, he gave a disdainful look at Scarlett, to which she simply rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"What are you talking about?" said Nirvana, frowning slightly by confusion. "What is it?"

"Nothing important. Scarlett killed my secretary, Sasha" Max said, shrugging dismissively. "Oh, and then she slept with me."

"Oh."

Scarlett growled then, folding her arms firmly and refusing more than ever to look me.

"Max" she hissed, her tone almost inaudible. "We said that we would never talk about it again..."

"You said that. Not me."

"Excuse me, could anyone could be bothered to tell me what the hell is going on?" I muttered, looking at them with more boredom than fear. "Maybe, if you please..."

They both turned to me with looks that were meant to be threatening, but I could only watch with indifference.

Yes, I was completely immobilized against at least one person who would have no trouble to kill me. But I couldn't stay frightened. I needed answers.

Max sighed heavily before turning entirely to me, ignoring Nirvana's startled look.

"Well, your girlfriend here has never told you a lot about her family, right?" he asked, with a casually malicious tone. "Have you ever wondered why...?"

"Shut up" snapped Nirvana, with venom in her voice. "I'll tell him everything, just shut up."

"You had enough time to tell him..."

"Shut the fuck up!"

Max laughed under his breath and snapped his fingers. Then Scarlett went to Nirvana, and before I could fear for her life, put a gag in her mouth.

"That's what happens when someone speaks too much" he said, looking for complicity he didn't find. "But don't worry, you're safe. As long as you keep your mouth shut and stay out of our way, everything will be fine."

So you I are not going to explain why we are here?" I questioned, with a grimace of discomfort

"Oh, no. I'll let her do it."

I rolled my eyes in frustration. Confusion had grown to critical levels, and I didn't know who to trust. I didn't want to believe that Nirvana was involved in that tumultuous world, and she had dragged me along with her.

Max ceased to pay attention to me, to concentrate on the glare that Nirvana was giving him as Scarlett pressed her shoulders insistently to prevent her from struggling.

And since I was not going to find out what was going on for a while, I decided to listen and watch everything I could to try and draw any conclusions.

"You know I have to kill you, don't you?" Max asked, obviously not expecting to get any verbal response on her part. "But I won't. I can't."

Max got up from his chair and pulled it away, creating a horrible screeching sound between the legs of the chair and the floor. He sighed.

"Do you remember the white rabbit's tale? Do you remember?"

He waited patiently, watching Nirvana. Just when I thought she wouldn't move, she nodded slightly, closing her eyes.

"The white rabbit hops, skips, jumps. After the fence, the girl awaits. The white rabbit hops, skips, jumps. The fence is too high" he recited, and although I found it to be really lame, I thought I saw tears in Nirvana's eyes when Scarlett took off her gag. "The white rabbit hops, skips, jumps. He finally gives the big jump. The white rabbit hops, skips, jumps. What happened to the rabbit?"

A brief silence was formed, in which only our breaths were heard. Finally, Nirvana sighed.

"You tell me" she said.

Max smiled too, though my expression of total confusion was comparable with that of Scarlett.

"I'll tell you what will happen now. You are going to escape, no one can do anything about it" he said, calmly pulling a gun from his coat. Outside, coincidentally there will be a car so you can get away from here without nobody following you. Are we on the same page?"

Nirvana nodded slightly, but her expression was still defeatist. I felt like she completely refused to look at me.

I was about to speak, to ask what the hell was he going to do with that gun, just as Max whistled, and the door opened again. I could see through the mirror that the big man who acted as leader of our captors entered, plus another man who I also recognized.

"Sir...?" questioned the first one, but he received a thunderous shot in the forehead

The other guy, helpless, couldn't react when Max gave him two bullets in his heart.

Scarlett didn't even blink, she simply started to untie Nirvana's hands after a slight nod from Max, who then wiped the gun with a handkerchief, indifferent.

But what impressed me more than the bleeding corpses at my feet, was Nirvana's completely empty expression. There was no fear or disgust, or anything.

Max finished cleaning the gun, and offered it to her. She took it without hesitation.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked, unable to believe what I was seeing

"I'm saving our lives" she murmured, without even looking at me and in a monotone voice, before throwing down the gun carelessly

"No one will believe that you escaped by yourselves if the gun has my fingerprints, you imbecile" Max said, rolling his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe. "Seriously, sometimes I doubt you're as smart as you presume to be."

Scarlett chuckled at that, leaning next to me to free me. I frowned, in a horrible mixture of annoyance, confusion and frustration.

"Don't even think about returning to the apartment" mumbled, as she untied my feet acquiring a grimace

"It's also my apartment."

"To hell with that. I don't want you back there."

Scarlett nearly replicated again, seeing me with an expression of contempt, but Max cleared his throat and she pulled away from me quickly, with a grunt.

I massaged my aching wrists, trying to move my feet again. Nirvana was on her feet already.

"There's a car outside" informed Max, handing her a key. "Get rid of the dead weight and then find your mother. Get away from your current residence, and don't move until I get there. I'll find you thanks to the GPS in the car."

She nodded again, so automaton, like a robot that receives commands and simply obeys. He patted her shoulder amicably, before making a sign to Scarlett, so that both of them walked to the door.

He allowed her to come out first, and took care to leave the door ajar when he walked away.

Helplessly, my gaze inevitably went to Nirvana. She had her eyes closed, her lips uttered words I couldn't hear clearly.

They seemed to be numbers.

Finally she turned to me, looking into my eyes again. Her remorseful and embarrassed expression managed to remind me of the little red-haired girl who feared the principal back at school.

And just like that time, I wasn't afraid. I took her hand, and just let her guide my way.

* * *

Hi!

Sorry if the chapter is too short... I have no excuse.

Perhaps some of you imagine what this is about... well, we'll see if you're right.

Now, I'll answer your reviews.

Artemis Raven Courtney: Well, I guess you'll find out soon... and sorry! But cliffhangers are good!

The Abysswalker: You could say she is. I know, Owen doesn't seem like the kind of person who swears... well, this is just the beginning.

Ali6132: Thanks! And here's an update, even if it doesn't have as many answers as it should have. Bye!

Guest: Thank you. Glad you liked it!

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Yeah, I know. And you're right, they're both tough ladies.

GeM216: Thanks! I'm really glad you liked it, and I hope you like this one too!

Well, I guess that's all. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	19. Alone together

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Alone together

* * *

I feared that all was an ambush, and there would be no car waiting outside, just a bunch of thugs with machine guns ready to fill us with bullets.

However, the car was there.

I didn't say a word as Nirvana began to drive, getting out of the place quickly. I wondered if she knew where we were before to know how to get out of there, but I realized she probably did know.

I watched in silence, appreciating how she hard pressed the wheel, with her moist blue eyes fixed on the road. Her lower lip trembled slightly.

Finally, she exploded.

She began to sob quietly, letting her tears roll down her cheeks. I felt like comforting her, but I was still somewhat stunned by the situation.

"Noah... I'm so sorry" she mumbled, refusing to look at me. "I never wanted this to happen..."

"Calm down, or you'll kill us both."

She seemed to understand that if she continued that way we'd probably crash against a building. She sighed, apparently trying to calm down.

"You deserve an explanation..."

"I agree, but you can explain everything later" I mumbled, crossing my arms. "Now I'd like to get home in one piece."

"I can't explain later, it has to be now!" she shouted, but almost immediately she realized it, and sighed heavily. "Listen... there's a reason I didn't want to tell you my name, nor meet you... I just wanted to protect you."

We turned a corner, where the car swerved violently. I gave her a strange look, a mixture of reproach and confusion. She finally looked at me, sideways.

"My father... he's a mafia boss. The Tennorman family disguises a fortune behind a facade of success in the world of technology."

I stood in silence, looking at her intently in utter disbelief while the car was moving slightly faster. Nirvana stared back on the road.

"Are you serious?" I asked hoarsely, trying to look for logic in that. "Besides, Tennorman? I thought your last name was Banks..."

"Tennorman is my father, Banks is my mother. I took her last name since their divorce" she said, sighing and pushing a hand off the wheel to rub it in her face in frustration. "My mother couldn't stand the mafia environment and divorced my father... he promised he would leave us alone, and that she wouldn't see him again."

She was silent for a moment, wiping the tears that streamed down her flushed cheeks with embarrassment, while her other hand was manipulating the steering wheel.

I merely observed her, carefully, following her movements to not miss any details. I really wanted to understand, because although her story didn't seem to make much sense, little by little it was acquiring some logic.

"I remember my father told me to choose who I wanted live with" she remembered then, with sadness in her eyes. "My brother chose him... and I chose mom."

I understood the bitterness in her voice instantly. No child should be forced to choose between their parents, regardless of age or maturity. Suddenly, her parents seemed to be even worse people.

"Then... that's why you didn't want to tell me your name?" I mumbled, turning my eyes to the road too. "Or meet me?"

"My mother always told me that while we were away from my father and his business, I couldn't get involved with many people" she whispered, making a small uncomfortable grimace. "To protect them, and not load on my conscience what might happen to them."

Again she fell silent, breathing heavily. Meanwhile, I kept beating around the bush, trying to find logic in some way, but I was having trouble achieving it.

"I've known Max since we were kids, when relations between the two rival families were cordial. He's a year older than me, but still used to look after me" she continued, more quietly. I even could glimpse a little wistful smile on her lips. "He always used to tell me the story of the rabbit, and asked for a different ending every time... until my parents got divorced, and I didn't see him again."

Nirvana sighed, wearily, and I just could lie down on the seat, dazed. It was too much information in too little time.

I entertained myself by watching out the window of the car, in complete silence. The speed at which we were going, the lights of the city at night blurred.

I could hear her clear her throat, so I looked at her askance.

"I'll understand if... you don't want to see me anymore" she whispered then, sighing heavily and never taking her eyes off the road. "Just know that I'm sorry..."

I sighed while turning around toward her. I noticed she stopped the car, so I figured we were in my apartment's street.

"Listen... this is very surprising and complicated" I mumbled, rubbing my face with my hand. "I guess I will need time to assimilate it all."

Nirvana nodded slightly, with a small grimace that looked like a smile. She turned to me and took my hand.

"I'll give you all the time you need" she mumbled, her tone almost inaudible. "Now I need you to come down and lock yourself in your apartment. Don't open the door until tomorrow, not even to Scarlett. Much less to Scarlett."

I nodded once. Nor I had planned to receive her again in the apartment. I would accumulate furniture behind the door if necessary.

"You think Scarlett worked for Max even before offering the apartment to me?"

Nirvana raised an eyebrow, and shrugged slightly.

"It's posible. Part of her job may have been keep you under surveillance" she said, hiding a lock of red hair behind her ear. "They'd look for any means to harm my family. Probably they knew we knew each other."

I sighed again, tired. The whole situation had me confused, and I didn't think I could hold more information in my exhausted brain.

Nirvana gave a gentle squeeze to my hand, to get my attention. She smiled a little, almost shyly.

"Go now. I'll go and get my mother, and warn her of the situation" she whispered, releasing a prolonged sigh of resignation. "I'll call you when I'm safe, okay?"

I could only nod a bit, and squeeze her hand too, somehow trying to cheer her up even though I was in a miserable mood.

She smiled slightly, and approached enough to kiss me. I didn't want to pull away, but she pushed me gently, chuckling.

"I'll call you."

I really didn't want to leave the car, but I had to. The bones in my legs complained when I was standing on the sidewalk. I sighed heavily.

Nirvana gave me a small smile, before putting the car running again. I followed it with his eyes until it disappeared from sight.

I rushed into the building, and I had to climb the stairs quickly despite my bones demanded a break. To reach the apartment, I opened the door only to lock it immediately.

With a sigh of relief, I went to the couch and I drop myself there, trying to relax my muscles. Almost immediately, my phone began to vibrate.

For a second, I came to think that Nirvana was safe, before I realized that was illogical because she had leave just a few minutes ago.

It was a private number.

I didn't even think about answering. Maybe it was driving me paranoid, but I had been through too much garbage that night.

Seconds later, the phone stopped ringing, and in the screen appeared a voice message.

I hesitated a little, but finally decided to listen.

"It's me, Scarlett. I couldn't call you with my cellphone, but that's not the point. I know you're there, you don't answer intentionally."

Hearing her voice, I wanted to delete the message without even hearing it finish. However, I decided to keep listening. I still don't know why.

"I'm sorry about what happened today. I tried to convince Max that your presence wasn't necessary, but he insisted" she continued, and I could hear her sigh on the other end of the line. "I don't know what she told you, but there are two sides to every story. You need to hear mine."

The sound was a bit distorted, as if Scarlett was moving when talking. In the distance, I could hear a male voice but I couldn't make out what he said.

"I have to go. Just... we need to talk. Goodbye."

The message ended, and although I took the phone willing to delete it, I didn't.

Everything I thought I knew was a lie. And I didn't know whom I could trust.

* * *

Hello!

Finally an explanation. Did you see it coming? Or was it totally unexpected? You tell me!

Anyway, this chapter title is a reference to another series that I love: Steven Universe.

Now, I'll answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thanks. And yeah, I'm pretty sure Eva won the next match!

Artemis Raven Courtney: Here you go! Now you know what she did...

Ali6132: Well, thank you. And you were right! Our, I'm sorry if that wasn't clear enough... it was Noah telling Scarlett to never go back to the apartment. By the way, it's great you got an account! Congratulations! Bye!

The Abysswalker: I know, right? I wanted Max to be kinda badass, actually. Well, I'm glad at least she created suspense!

Dolly: Well, here's more! Hope you like it!

Guest: This chapter contains an explanation... kinda.

Okay, I guess that's all. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	20. Scarlett's side

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Scarlett's side

* * *

For a couple of days, I had peace in the apartment.

In the morning after that 'express kidnapping', I could open the door and breathe with ease. I couldn't sleep all night, but at least I hadn't received any unwanted visit from Scarlett.

Nirvana was unable to call me, but she sent me a text message assuring that she was fine. That calmed me for a day.

But when I tried to call her, I couldn't talk to her. None of my calls were answered. I wondered if she had lost her cell phone, or simply couldn't respond for some reason.

I had no idea, and that situation had me a little nervous.

On Monday morning, three days after the incident, I still didn't know anything about Nirvana, or Scarlett. However, I knew I had to try to continue my life as normally as possible.

So I went back to college.

I couldn't concentrate at all, absolutely nothing. I'm pretty sure it was going to be reflected in my future grades, but at that moment I didn't care that much.

I struggled to keep my friends away, because I knew that if I talked to them, I would feel the urgent need to tell them everything. And doing so would put them in imminent danger.

Still, I couldn't hide the scar of a pretty deep cut that had taken place on one of my eyebrows, and that caught Owen's attention.

"Little buddy, I really am concerned..."

His anguished voice managed to make me sigh heavily. Great, now I felt guilty for not telling the truth.

I continued to keep my belongings in my backpack, feeling his gaze on me sadly. Finally I looked at him, and regretted it.

"I can't tell you anything" I mumbled, trying to look nonchalant as I turned around to go away. "Seriously, just let it be."

"I can't. I don't know what's wrong, or who hurt you" he refuted, following me close behind with some difficulty. "Don't you trust me?"

I mumbled a curse when I stopped and turned around to face him. He gave me his best sad look.

"Listen, I really can't say anything" I muttered, with a sigh of frustration. "I'm just trying to protect you."

Just then, I had a kind of epiphany.

I was in the same position where Nirvana had to live for years since we started to talk. Not saying anything, even when words burned in my throat.

I couldn't stand seeing my best friend's hurt expression, so I turned around and tried not to see him for a while.

* * *

Scarlett didn't appear in the apartment, or in college, for several days.

Nirvana didn't show any signs of life after her text message.

And I was about to rip my hair because of anxiety.

Until one day, I arrived quite late to the apartment, only to find that the door was open. I hesitated at once, should I go in or not?

Well, I still lived there, and paid half the rent. Therefore, with all the caution that I could conceive, I entered.

Scarlett was there.

As she just saw me, she rose from her seat at the kitchen table, abandoning her half-drunk coffee.

"I told you I didn't want to see you here" I snapped, before she could even speak

She blinked several times, apparently confused. After a few moments, she quickly shook her head.

"I pay for this property too" she said, crossing her arms firmly. "I have as many rights as you."

"I think you lost your 'rights' when you and your little boyfriend went too far."

Scarlett rolled her eyes at my words, and tried to move a couple of steps, but I raised a hand for her to stop.

"Noah, this is ridiculous..."

"Ridiculous is that you expect to get my trust back after what happened" I mumbled, watching her warily and suspiciously. "Come on, get out of here."

"Won't you hear my side?" she questioned, with a pleading expression

For a moment I almost believed her. She seemed sincere. Then I remembered who she was and turned away those thoughts from my mind.

"If I hear 'your version', you'll leave me alone?" I uttered, arching an eyebrow skeptically

Scarlett sighed deeply, and nodded once. Almost immediately she motioned with her hand for me to take a seat at the table. So I did, without taking my eyes off her.

She also sat in front of me, and folded her hands on the table thoughtfully. Finally she looked at me.

"You see, I knew about Max's business long before you start to live here. He's not the boss, his father is. He's... on a training stage" she began with a small grin on his face. "I got a place in his business as a hired assassin. I kill the ones they tell me to kill. If they pay me, I have no problem doing it."

"Then, you lied for months with the 'plan to regain his trust', right?" I reminded her, crossing my arms and leaning back in my chair. "Good start."

"That was part of the plan. Max told me watch you closely, knowing that you were keeping in touch with a member of the Tennorman family. To earn your trust, I had to pretend earning 'his' trust. He thought you knew everything, and also had dirty business."

She was silent for a moment, and I could only rub my hands over my face in a tired gesture. This was definitely not in a good day or a good week.

I waited for her to continue talking, but she didn't. She remained silent, watching her hands on the table.

"Is that all?" I questioned then, arching an eyebrow. "Because if so, I want you to go away."

"I told you this is my property too and I pay for it."

"Scarlett, come on. You earn enough money to pay elsewhere and leave me alone."

She yawned, in which seemed as a gesture of boredom, and sat back quietly in her chair, crossing her arms.

"I won't go, Noah" she warned, shrugging indifferently. "My work monitoring you shall continue, now more than ever."

Stunned, I rose from my place feeling a kind of sick, possibly due to lack of sleep. The expression on her face made it clear that there was no way to get her out of there.

Then maybe I could take advantage of that.

"Have you heard of Nirvana?"

Scarlett raised her eyebrows at that, and simply made an uncomfortable grimace with her mouth.

"I heard many things, but I will assume you're referring to her whereabouts" she muttered, and sighed wearily. "Max knows, but I don't. He won't tell me."

"Jeez, thanks for nothing."

With a yawn and my muscles complaining, I headed to my room ready to close the door locked and place a chair behind it.

"She is okay" assured Scarlett behind me, but I didn't even turn around to see her. "But still they believe that she escaped, and continue looking for her."

I just turned around with a tired and impatient expression, just in front of my bedroom door.

"You're not going to gain my trust so easily" I warned, opening the door. "And by the way, congratulations. I think it'll be a girl."

I slammed the door, and yet I could hear her holding her breath, but she said nothing. Probably there wasn't much to say.

I looked at my phone, hopefully. No message or missed call.

And that couldn't be good.

* * *

Noah is back, Noah is back, NOAH IS BACK, BITCHES! (?)

Ahem. Well... Did you know that Noah and Owen will compete together in The Ridonculous Race? c:

Anyway... tells her side of the story... maybe I might answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thank you, again!

Ali6132: Thanks! I know, Nirvana needs to be patient. Here's Scarlett's side of the story... do you trust her?

The Abysswalker: Exactly! Well, here's explained that Max isn't in charge, his father is. Thank you!

Elizabeth Life Stone: Thanks!

Guest: Well, thank you!

Dolly: Yeah, she is. Thanks!

Well, I guess that's all for now. I'll keep on fangirling about a hot Indian sarcastic guy being back in business (?) Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	21. Intervention

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Intervention

* * *

Scarlett remained in the apartment, and there was no way humanly possible to get her out.

I had to admit, she was stubborn and wasn't going to give the budge. And as it was impossible to kick her out of the place, I had to get used to her presence again.

I knew nothing about Nirvana yet, and that was beginning to worry too much. Scarlett claimed that she was fine but Max didn't want me to know where she was.

I was tired of the situation.

That night I reached the apartment pretty tired and I didn't want to do anything but lie down and sleep. I realized that Scarlett wasn't in the apartment, and that made me feel slightly relieved.

I could just leave my bag lying on the floor and place my food in the microwave, and someone knocked on the door.

I cursed under my breath, knowing it couldn't be Scarlett because she had a key. For a split second, I thought maybe it was Nirvana. That moment of stupidity led me to open the door.

But it wasn't Nirvana, unless had became a boy, had black hair and green eyes.

The unknown guy, anyway, reminded me of her with his features.

"Noah Blain?" he questioned, arching an eyebrow and looking at me from top to bottom

I didn't answer right away, but I watched intently in silence for a moment.

"That depends" I mumbled, ready to close the door at any moment. "Who are you?"

The boy rolled his eyes, and took one of his hands out of his pockets, to extend it to me with a grin.

"Damon Tennorman. You have to come with me now."

I ignored completely his hand, because what he said caught my attention even more. He seemed to notice, so he sighed heavily.

"I'm her older brother" he mumbled, impatiently. "Are we going already?"

"Where?" I said, still watching him suspiciously. "How do I know you really are her brother, and you don't want me out of here to kill me?"

"Easy, 'cause I could kill you right here" he said, opening his leather jacket to reveal a gun. "And besides, if you don't come with me, I'll kill you."

"Wow, you're such a nice guy."

The boy raised an eyebrow and sighed heavily, rubbing one of his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Listen, don't make it harder" he muttered, turning away from the door, apparently so that I could walk out. "Come with me. My parents want to talk to you, but they're way too lazy to come here."

"Will you take me where Nirvana is?" I asked, watching with apprehension and expectation. He snorted, but nodded slightly. "OK, let's go."

Damon sighed, the kind of sigh that one experiences when something finally goes right. I walked out and closed the door before following him out of the building.

Off the sidewalk, a black car was parked in fancy and expensive appearance. He entered the driver's seat, and waited to do the same. I did, with distrust.

Being there I realized the car was expensive, top quality seats and everything. Very different from my car... oh, by the way, I bought a car. Now you know.

Probably he went beyond the speed limit, but the truth was that I didn't care at that time. I wanted to see Nirvana, and make sure she was okay. And for that I might take the chance that the guy was an impostor, or that we ended up crashing into a tree.

I concentrated on looking through the car window, absently. I had no intention of engaging in conversation with my supposed brother-in-law.

Moreover, he didn't seem very talkative anyway.

Soon I noticed that we were moving away from my apartment, a lot, and that began to worry me. I imagined that at any moment he would stop the car, push me out and give me a couple of shots in the head.

But fortunately that didn't happen. I noticed that he began to stop the car, so I went out of my reverie to see around me. We were facing a huge black gate, and Damon spoke to someone on the intercom.

The next moment, the gates were opened, and the car entered. It was the most gigantic garden that I had ever seen. The landscape seemed to be out of the most cliché story.

The vehicle moved in what seemed an eternal path, and I could only watch in amazement all around me. Lush trees, light poles illuminating the night garden, and in front of us, becoming larger, a showy mansion.

"You live here?"

I didn't realize what I had said until I heard him laugh.

"That's right" he said, in a tone of superiority while he stopped the vehicle. "Impressive, right?"

"That you seem to have twenty-five and still live with your father? That's clearly impressive."

Damon gave me a venomous look before opening the car door and walking out. I imitated him, suddenly feeling slightly more confident.

With a dry nod of his head he told me to follow him, and I did. We entered the mansion, which looked even more gigantic inside.

Everything was luxurious, elegant, attractive... superb. Filthy rich. And I didn't like it at all.

Damon continued walking inside the place, without stopping for a moment, and I had no choice but to follow him. Before I knew it, we were facing a pair of exaggerated wooden doors that the guy in front of me opened wide.

It was an office, in the style of a film with a big budget. The pictures on the walls, and a colorful library distracted me for a moment and I didn't see the people that were there, until a man cleared his throat.

He was a grown man, I'd say that was fifty-odd years, the gray in his black hair gave him away. He was standing behind a mahogany desk and in his elegant suit, he commanded respect.

On a couch, near to the desk, I recognized Mrs. Banks, though she looked different. Gone was her housewife attire, to be replaced by an exuberant party dress.

If added Damon to these two people, I'd had the perfect equation wealthy mafia family. The only person who didn't fit there, wasn't present.

"Where is Nirvana?"

The man behind the desk laughed under his breath at my question, and merely made a gesture with his hand, pointing to a chair opposite to him.

Assuming he wouldn't say anything until everything was as he wanted, I had no choice but to go over and sit there.

"Eric Tennorman" he presented himself in a firm voice, extending his hand toward me. "You already know my wife and son..."

"Ex-wife" corrected Mrs. Banks, as I shook the man's hand briefly

He laughed again.

"Say that to your new clothes and jewelry, sweetheart."

I expected some kind of scathing response from the woman, but it never arrived. So I sighed heavily, impatiently.

"You already know me, and I appreciate that I wasn't kidnapped this time, I've had bad experiences with that" I mumbled, crossing my arms firmly. "But I really want to know..."

"She is fine" he assured, taking a seat in his imposing leather-chair. "She's here, where it's safe. But you won't see her."

I raised an eyebrow, and he seemed to notice my confusion. With a weary sigh, he seemed to open one of the compartments of his desk to take a cigar out of there.

"Listen, kid, I'll be completely honest with you" he muttered, as he lit the cigar, placing it in his mouth. "I couldn't care less about your welfare, but my daughter really cares."

Mr. Tennorman took time to exhale a puff of smoke, and I had to make an effort not to cough, cause I wasn't used to that.

"You rather impressed me when I found out that you hadn't cut all ties with my daughter after learning the truth" he admitted, leaning back in his seat quietly. "But the truth is I can't allow you to keep in touch with her."

He was silent again, and I said nothing. I was waiting, but I didn't know what. Perhaps I was waiting for him to continue talking, or to take out a gun, or maybe that Nirvana walked in with a dramatic turn.

None of that happened.

"We don't want you to see our daughter" confirmed Mrs. Banks, with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Because if you get killed, that would affect her."

"Let me get this straight" I muttered, seeing the three of them with a thoughtful expression. "You want me to stay away from your daughter, and from all of this dangerous environment... and you bring me here to tell me so?"

"We're a little dramatic" said the man, with another deep laugh when exhaling more smoke. "I really wanted to meet you, you know, I was curious."

"Maybe you can get to know me more if I can see your daughter."

"You're a smart kid, but not enough."

I muttered a silent curse, throwing my head back in frustration. I turned back to him, just to see him smile proudly.

"Don't you understand that we are trying to save your life?" he murmured, furrowing his brow slightly. "Nirvana has been through a lot, to have to mourn over your dead body!"

"And you think that she won't suffer if we're far away from each other?"

"Oh, please, don't think you're so important" the woman intervened again, rolling her eyes contemptuously. "She'll get over it. A break up is easier to overcome than a death."

I had no impediments to glare at her, but she didn't seem to care. I turned to Mr. Tennorman, who still seemed focused on his cigar, then I watched Damon. He remained silent and impassive.

"Noah, I didn't bring you here to discuss with you what will happen" Mr. Tennorman said, drawing my attention again. "I brought you here because I wanted to tell you face to face the decision I made, and it must be so."

He rose from his place, imposing his presence again, and settled his suit elegantly.

"I know very well that Nirvana will contact you as soon as we let her get out of here" he mumbled, shrugging indifferently. "And we trust you'll zoom out."

"Break her heart, she'll hate you" suggested Damon, speaking at last. "That will keep her away from you, and she'll break your nose in return."

I didn't say anything. Only I got up, with a tired and annoyed sigh.

"I won't see her, right?" I muttered, with a bored expression. The man shook his head again. "Then I guess I have nothing to do here."

"You're right. Damon will take you back home" he said, extending his hand back to me, but I refused to shake it. He laughed. "Goodbye, Noah."

I just nodded once, and didn't even look at Mrs. Banks when walking outside the office. I could hear Damon's footsteps behind me.

We walked the same path that we used before, with the difference that I was no longer paying attention to anything. I went silent, my mind was blank.

I didn't pay attention to the return journey, or when Scarlett yelled at when he saw me coming.

Apparently she didn't think that going at night with the heir to the rival mafia boss was a good idea. I didn't care.

I just locked myself in my room, I laid on my bed and watched attentively the ceiling in silence.

I had a lot to think about. But I didn't want to.

* * *

Hi!

Yep, this chapter was rather Noah interacting with OCs, but still hope you like it.

Now, I kindly invite you *pulls out a gun and points with it* to read my new story, "Inside Out" c: Nah, seriously, you can read it, I think it's good... kinda xD

Now I'll answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thank you! And yeah, I sad them, they'll compete with new characters.

Artemis Raven Courtney: I know, right? Everything is getting more and more difficult for Noah!

YamazakiXwolf97: Hey, thanks! By the way, that isn't supposed to mean anything. As I always say, English isn't my first language, and I make mistakes sometimes. It's already edited and corrected now!

Ali6132: Thanks. Well, I guess Scarlett didn't want to tell him the whole story. Maybe they have been watching him since he was a kid... that would be creepy. Now you know where Nirvana is! Oh, yeah! I saw the first episode and lived it! Bye!

The Abysswalker: I know, I kinda expected Scarlett and Max to return, labeled as 'Evil Geniuses' lol I guess Scarlett bring pregnant is kinda shocking. I'm anxiously waiting for episode 2!

HeavenCanWait: Thanks for reading my story, sweetheart! I'll try to edit those chapters as soon as I can.

Skyhitz: Yeah! His face in the elevator scene was hilarious! Now you know a little more about Nirvana and... maybe Scarlett and Noah will become real friends after all. And yeah, I feel bad for Owen too.

Well, I think that's all. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	22. Wedding bells

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Wedding bells

* * *

Talking to Nirvana's parents didn't help much.

In any case, it made everything worse.

Scarlett demanded an explanation for my nightly misadventure, and I had to make a great effort not to argue with her. I had no strength or desire.

So I ignored her as long as I could. And somehow, that I influenced me to be pleased when receiving a visit from Dave in the apartment.

"You helped me when my girlfriend left me, I must do the same."

I wanted to clarify that she had not abandoned me, but I kept it. Dave looked better since the incident with Sky, and I didn't want to ruin it.

"Yes, it's better this way. I heard she's dating this guy Keith again" he told me, absently taking a sip of his coffee. "And I ... I'm fine. Enjoying the single life."

"Really?"

"Not really."

I rolled my eyes with a weary sigh. I hadn't slept well, and had a bad temper at the moment. Especially because I didn't receive any signal from Nirvana, though I knew she was fine.

"Why are you here, Dave?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. "Not that I don't enjoy your hilarious presence, but..."

"Oh, yeah! You are invited to Shawn and Jasmine's wedding, this weekend."

"Are they inviting me, or it's just you?"

Dave scratched his head, almost nervously.

"Both, actually. Shawn really wants you to go, but didn't say why" he said, with a slightly confused look at his own words. "And I want you to come. Sky will be there... and I don't want to go alone, it would be pathetic."

"Isn't it pathetic that you'll go with your cousin?" I mumbled, standing up to place our empty cups in the kitchen sink

I heard Dave laugh a little, as if I had just told a good joke. And while I was washing the cups with boredom, he reached out and patted my shoulder amicably.

"Come on, Noah... you'll have fun."

* * *

I wasn't having fun.

I still don't know how it was that Dave managed to convince me, but he did.

And there I was, at a wedding, wearing a suit that I hated, sitting next to an elderly woman with verbal incontinence.

"Tell me, are you a relative of the groom or the bride?"

I wanted to tell her to fuck off, but I couldn't. Courtesy stopped me.

"I'm not related to any of them. I am the best man's cousin.

"Oh, Shawn's little friend! Shawn, my grandson is a man now... do you want me to tell you the story of how he fell from his crib to the ground, head first?"

The lady didn't wait for an answer, and I wasn't willing to give it. When she began to speak, I simply stopped listening.

I was surrounded by people I didn't know. I could only recognize Dave, in his best man spot, also Sky and Samey in their bridesmaids places. The rest of the cast of Pahkitew Island was distributed on the seats, except Max and Scarlett.

Scarlett had received an invitation. I saw her throw it in the trash when she just opened it.

And then there was Shawn, waiting nervously.

I still couldn't understand why he would want me there. I hardly knew him.

Everyone remained silent, even the old chatty woman, when the bride arrived. I must say, she looked really good, but seeing her with her future husband almost made me laugh. The difference in height between the two was huge.

I had only attended eight weddings in my life, and all of them were Indian. None had been like this one, but I didn't pay much attention.

I was tired, distracted, and eager to get out.

When the party started, I made sure to stay in a corner while the couple began with the first dance of the night.

I was waiting for Dave stop acting like a slob around Sky, to tell him I was leaving, because again, courtesy wouldn't let me do it without telling him first.

After a while, half an hour or forty minutes, I amused myself drinking some champagne. Until I finally saw Dave approaching, but he came with Shawn and Jasmine after him.

"And there he is... I told you I would bring him!" he assured, pointing at me like I was a car that he was trying to sell

"Congratulations" I mumbled, struggling to smile at the newlyweds

"Thank you. Shawn really wanted to see you" Jasmine said, with a strong Australian accent

Her husband nodded quickly at that, and gave me a nervous smile.

"Speaking of that... will you allow us a moment?" he questioned, looking significantly at his wife and his friend

The three of us exchanged glances, completely confused, but Dave smiled and nodded.

"Sure, man. Come on, Jasmine, let's dance this one" he muttered, taking the tall woman by the hand and going to the dance floor

As soon as we were alone, I gave Shawn an inquisitive look. He sighed, and made a gesture with his hand before walking.

I had no choice but to follow him, still unsure.

We left the room where the party was taking place, and began to walk along one of the corridors of the hotel.

"You must be very confused now, but don't worry, I'm not a zombie" he assured me, speaking at last, with a little knowing smile. "But if I was, no doubt I'd eat your brain, dude."

"Thank you, but could you tell me what's going on?"

Shawn nodded, stopping in front of a door in particular, wearing the number 69 on wood.

"Well... this wedding didn't pay itself" he murmured, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "And I had to borrow money from your father-in-law..."

That caught my attention completely. I felt my heart stop for a second, a second of revelation.

"Nirvana is here?"

Shawn nodded again, sighing heavily. And I couldn't help or, a smile appeared on my face.

"She convinced her father to give me an extension to pay" he muttered, with a small grin on his face. "The least I could do was let her see you..."

"Is she in this room?" I asked, not quite hearing his story. Seeing him nod, my hand took the latch on the door. "Thank you."

"No problem, man. I'll leave you guys alone..."

I waited for Shawn to turn around and walk away, disappearing from my view, and then opened the door. And there she was.

Ironically enough, she was wearing an elegant dress, even though she never appeared at the wedding. She smiled at me greatly.

"Noah!" she exclaimed, when running toward me to hug me

I couldn't say anything, I just held her tightly against my chest. I had not realized how much he'd missed her actually. I kept her there, nearby, for a few moments.

When she finally pulled away, her smile was still there, intact.

"You look gorgeous" I admitted, and could not help smiling at her blush

"So do you" she muttered, hiding a strand of hair behind her ear. She sighed. "Sorry about what happened..."

"Don't worry. It wasn't your fault."

Still, she took on a look of discomfort that I couldn't take away. She didn't let go of my hands, but fiddled around with them, absently.

"Also I found out what my father did" she mumbled, without looking at me in the eyes. "Sorry about that..."

"Meh, it doesn't matter" I mumbled, shrugging indifferently. "I was going to meet him someday, right?"

Nirvana laughed a little at that, looking at me. She bit her lower lip, uncertain.

"This Monday I'll go back to college, and everyone will pretend that we have returned to normal" she said then, smiling slightly when pulling my hands to get a bit closer. "Now... what do you want to do?"

"I don't know..." I whispered, feeling my cheeks blushing slightly at her tone of voice

"Well... we're all alone in a hotel room..."

Then my cheeks burned intensely. She let out a naughty giggle at that, taking advantage of my distraction to push me toward the bed.

"Oh, come on" she whispered, sitting comfortably on my lap. "You weren't so nervous when we did it on the phone..."

"But at that time you couldn't see me..."

Nirvana laughed again, and I couldn't avoid doing the same, relaxing a little. I even dared to hold her waist, and I noticed she was shaking slightly. It calmed me to know that we were both nervous.

She just leaned over to lock her lips with mine, and I couldn't resist kissing her back.

And I can only say that we both were pretty scruffy when we walked out of that hotel room.

* * *

Hi!

New chapter for you!

Well, actually I don't have much to say this time, just... GAY MARRIAGE IS NOW LEGAL IN AMERICA! *O* Today is a day of celebration, guys.

Now, I'll answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Hey, thanks! I know, Noah doesn't care. Literally.

Artemis Raven Courtney: Yeah, I know.

The Abysswalker: Poor Noah is having a bad time... but things seem to be getting better!

Elizabeth Life Stone: Thank you!

Ali6132: Thanks. Lol, I laughed a lot at that part of your review (the 'break break her heart' part). Thank you, sweetie! It's an honor to be in that list. Hope you liked this chapter. Bye!

I guess that's all for now... take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	23. Babysitting sucks

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Babysitting sucks

* * *

Knowing that Nirvana was fine, and seeing her almost every day, improved my mood again.

And it was quite visible.

"You look exultant... you had a sexual encounter recently?"

Scarlett's comments came quickly but weren't so annoying. Or maybe I had gotten used to her presence and her voice.

I continued serving my coffee, settling down at the table, quietly.

"Actually, that's true."

Scarlett looked up from her reading to look at me with an incredulous expression.

"Did you see Nirvana again?" she questioned, arching an eyebrow

"Why I can only have sex with Nirvana?" I murmured, only for her to show me a grin. I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

She laughed under her breath, closing her psychology book and leaving it on the table before finishing her coffee.

"I see you don't plan to cut any contact with her. It seems that you don't learn your lessons" she whispered with a small sneer

"I might be a bad student" I said, rolling my eyes to take another sip of my coffee. "Oh, by the way, I'll ask you to leave."

"Again?"

"Yes, for tonight."

Scarlett's smile became mischievous as she stood up, taking her book.

"Are you going to bring Nirvana here and you do not want me to witness the sexual intercourse?"

"Ugh, don't call it that way... but yeah, she'll come here" I mumbled, sighing wearily. "And my brother will come too, and his wife, and their children... it's their anniversary and I have to babysit my nephews."

It wasn't going to be for free. My brother was going to pay me, which made me think he could hire any other person, like a professional nanny or something.

But I'm not complaining. A few more dollars are always good.

"Children" sputtered Scarlett, with an awkward grimace. "Okay, anyway, I'll be busy tonight."

She was busy. Around seven o'clock, Scarlett left. And fifteen minutes later, Nirvana arrived.

We kept ourselves entertained for a long time, with video games and small talk until the doorbell rang about nine o'clock.

We both headed to the door.

"Seriously, thank you for doing this" muttered my brother, as I just opened the door, until he realized that I wasn't alone. "Hello...?"

"Hi, I'm not a professional babysitter, but I do my best" said the redhead next to me, smiling amiably. "I'm Nirvana."

"I'm Elijah, and this is my wife, Iris" he said, shaking her hand with a small smile. "These are Zach and Estelle. You are...?"

"She's my girlfriend."

Elijah gave me a curious look when I just said that, and I could only roll my eyes. The false engagement was the least of my problems at that time.

"Kids, be good with your uncle" my sister-in-law whispered, stroking her children's hair before pushing a little toward the door

The kids didn't even reply. Their mischievous eyes spoke for themselves.

"Wait for me in the car, I'll be there in a minute" Elijah whispered, kissing his wife before she walked away

Nirvana took the two children by the hand and walked into the apartment, talking about something that really I didn't get to hear.

When she walked away, I extended my hand to my brother significantly. He snorted, and took out his wallet with a grimace.

"You know? I shouldn't pay you, they're your nephews" he said, but when I didn't lower my hand or changed my expression, he rolled his eyes to give me the money. "You're a parasite."

"No. I'm an opportunist, and that's different."

And I deserve that money. Especially because my nephews were a living he'll I wouldn't withstand for free.

Returning to the living room, I expected to see them there, in front of the TV watching "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" or other similar shit. However, they weren't there.

I looked in the kitchen, but there was only Nirvana, preparing dinner.

"They're probably playing around" she said, shrugging her shoulders quietly. "Let them be."

"I'm not going to let them be. They could get hurt, and then I'd have to call 911, and I'm just way too lazy for that."

Nirvana rolled her eyes, before we both heard a couple of giggles. We exchanged glances, before returning to listen carefully. The sounds came from Scarlett's room.

And I couldn't imagine a more dangerous place throughout the apartment.

Without hesitation, we both went to that room, and quietly, I opened the door. Suddenly, Zach laughter was heard more clearly, as I could see him happily jumping on the mattress.

Next to the nightstand, Estelle was holding an object that I couldn't identify quickly.

"Oh, no, put that down!"

And as I just saw Nirvana approach her to take it away, I knew what it was.

"What is it?" my little niece asked, curiously, while Nirvana took it out of her hand with a grimace of disgust. "I found it!"

"It's a dildo" I mumbled, taking Zach off the bed. I received a dirty look by Nirvana, and I shrugged. "But for you, honey, it's a dildon't."

"It looks like a rocket!'

"But it isn't, Zach. It isn't."

I watched Nirvana throw the object to the ground, and then kick it under the bed.

"Let's get out of here before we find a corpse or something" she muttered, taking Estelle gently by the hand and pulling her out of the room quickly.

After washing her hands with alcohol, soap and disinfectant, she finished cooking dinner. And that's a good thing, because otherwise we'd all be eating pizza and ice cream.

Later, she took the children to my room -where they would sleep that night- and told them the story of the white rabbit that hops, and skips, or something like that.

I truly appreciated her presence overnight. I wouldn't have known how to handle the situation so easily.

I stayed in the living room, watching a Futurama episode while waiting for Nirvana to finish with the children.

For a few moments, a few minutes, I felt that everything was in place.

Nirvana dropped beside me on the couch with a weary sigh. I couldn't help observing her, and smile a little.

"Hey" I mumbled, calling her attention as I checked my pocket, and took the money from my brother. "Here you go."

"...are you paying me?" she questioned, watching the money I offered her with an arched eyebrow. "Why?"

"Elijah gave me this money to take care of his children, but I didn't. It was you."

Nirvana was silent for a moment before her face acquired a tender expression. She went to take my face in her hands, and kissed me sweetly.

"Keep it for yourself" she whispered, with a brief mischievous giggle. "Or else, it will seem that you're paying me for the gift I am about to give you."

"But you... gift?" I repeated, staring at her intently with a suspicious expression. "It's my birthday and I forgot... again?"

She laughed a little, shaking his head slightly. She gestured with her hand, before departing to take her pink backpack and look through it.

"Actually, I bought for us" she clarified, concentrated in her search. "But I want you to open it."

She turned to me with a rectangular package, smiling excitedly. I took it, still somewhat undecided.

"Is it a book? It looks like a book... it's a book!"

Nirvana chuckled at my statement, watching as I tore the paper which she had wrapped it. And yeah, it was a book.

It had a beautiful cover, a really beautiful picture... but what caught my attention was the title.

"Foreverly?" I questioned, still watching the book with skepticism. "That isn't even a word!"

"That doesn't matter!" she refuted, taking the book to embrace it affectionately against her chest. "I bought it so we could read it together, I thought you would like that..."

I grimaced at her intentionally helpless expression, and I sighed, shaking my head slightly.

"It's the cheesiest thing I've heard in my life" I said, and watched her eyes sadden. I laughed a little. "Let's do it."

"You don't have to..."

"I want to do it."

Nirvana hesitated for a moment, but finally smiled slightly and nodded once. She came closer and sat beside me, snuggling.

I must admit I didn't pay much attention to the story, I was too busy listening to her voice.

* * *

Hi!

New chapter, as every week. How have you been these seven days?

Well, I'll answer your reviews.

Artemis Raven Courtney: Well, something like that just happened here!

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thanks! I know, Shawn is a really good guy!

The Abysswalker: I know, right? But I preferred to leave him out of this.

Elizabeth Life Stone: Thank you!

Ali6132: Thanks! I'll try to answer those questions as soon as I can... Cyber sex FTW! lol. Thanks again, and really, it's an honor to me! Bye!

Okay, I think that's all for now. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	24. Quinceañera

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Quinceañera

* * *

We didn't finish reading the book, only the first chapter, but that's a good thing. I had the perfect excuse to cuddle with her and listen to her voice till I fell asleep.

Ugh. That's so cheesy. I'm disgusted. But only a little.

Anyway. Nirvana was determined to introduce me in her life completely, and she decided to introduce me to several people she had grown up with.

That made me feel that this was unfair. Although I didn't really want to introduce her to my family, honestly.

She was very insistent for a whole week, trying to convince me to accompany her to a party.

I said 'no' once.

I said 'no' twice.

She bought and modeled lingerie casually in my room.

I said 'Formal or informal?'.

So I was there, wearing a formal suit, surrounded by people I didn't know. It was a horrifying deja vu.

Nirvana, who couldn't remove her proud smile at her victory over my horny brain, was right beside me, squeezing my hand gently.

"Thanks for coming" she whispered, turning to me with a small smile on her face

"Thank you for remembering that you look good in purple."

I finally smiled proudly when I saw her cheeks blush violently at my words. Her dress was purple. Her lingerie as well.

She shook her head, still embarrassed, and stared at me. After a few moments, she began to take off my tie, with a grimace of discomfort.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked, seeing her put my tie in her little accessory bag. "I won't do anything here in front of everyone..."

"Shut up" she murmured, blushing even more, and her smile grew a little. "You look better that way."

"I know. I am personified style."

She gave a wicked chuckle, before hitting my arm harmlessly, to keep me silent, because the birthday girl entered the place.

Before continuing, I'll stop here. We were at a birthday party, as you have noticed, of an unknown girl, at least for me.

It was Romeo's sister's birthday. Romeo is Nirvana's best friend, in case you can't remember. And I knew very well that I wasn't welcome there, but I was there anyway. Not only for Nirvana's lingerie, but because she told me about the De los Santos family. They had been the closest thing to a nuclear family that she had, since childhood.

And she wanted me to know them. That was the only reason I agreed, actually.

The girl in question, Lucía, was turning fifteen years old. And as was tradition in their culture, that date was celebrated in style.

Fiesta de Quince is Latin America's equivalent of Sweet Sixteen.

There, people dressed formally and waited for the birthday girl to arrive. Then she danced a waltz with her father, her brothers and male relatives. And after that, the party with music and food.

It didn't sound bad, really.

The party went smoothly, and while the birthday girl danced with her father, Nirvana told me more about them.

Apparently, De los Santos family had moved to Canada when Nirvana's best friend, Romeo, was five. They settled here in Ontario, and opened a bakery which is quite successful.

Romeo and Nirvana became friends as soon as they met, for the house of the De los Santos was right next to hers.

When Nirvana turned fifteen, they organized a Fiesta de Quince for her, and in it, Romeo confessed that his entire family worked for Mr. Tennorman.

Her father paid them to care for her daughter. So Nirvana felt very safe with them. And with him.

I listened carefully to every word she said, and when she had finished speaking, I could clearly see that the guests had dispersed, and a Latin tune began to sound.

I could also see Romeo approaching us, dressed in an elegant tuxedo. I couldn't help making a little grimace of discomfort.

As he just arrived, he put a 'friendly' hand on Nirvana's shoulder, who just smiled a little.

"Hola. Thanks for coming" he said dryly, looking at me. He turned to her and smiled slightly. "You promised to dance with me."

"Oh, it's true" she whispered, turning to me with an apologetic smile. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

I wanted to shake my head and don't release her hand, but I realized that surely would give a bad image of a possessive boyfriend. So I nodded, but I couldn't wipe my grimace.

Romeo soon took her to the middle of the floor, and I looked away. Almost immediately, someone put a hand on my shoulder, and offered me a glass of champagne.

"Bonita fiesta, right?" questioned a man on his fifties, smiling gently. "And very expensive, too."

"Nothing is free in life" I mumbled, accepting his drink with an arched eyebrow. "And you are...?"

"Enrique de los Santos" he said, extending a hand that I shook briefly. "Do you have a name, boy?"

"Noah Blain."

"Bible-name. Catholic parents?"

"Only if Indians count as Catholics."

The man laughed at that, patting my back amicably. I could only smile a little. He was charismatic, and I liked him rather than his son.

"So your family is also foreign... what a coincidence" he said with a long sigh. "Nirvana has told us a lot about you."

"And still you asked my name?" I questioned, to which he simply shrugged. I rolled my eyes. "You'll ask me to stay away from her? Sorry, but someone else did that already."

Enrique laughed under his breath and quickly shook his head, sipping his own glass of champagne. His brow furrowed slightly in a thoughtful expression.

"No, no. You're a big boy to make your own decisions, and besides, who am I to worry about you?" he murmured, with eloquent tone. He laughed again, though almost heartily. "But I do care about her. Do you think you could protect her, if she's in danger?"

At that, I could just keep quiet. Honestly? No. I didn't think I could protect myself, much less her.

No doubt it was something I hadn't thought.

"I think that's the end of the song" mumbled the man, pulling me from my thoughts. "Why don't you dance with your girl?"

"Uhm... I think I can't dance 'that music'. No offense.

"None taken. Don't worry, I got it."

As he barely finished saying that, he walked away from me, to approach the DJ booth. I could see him talking to the guy, so I sighed heavily. I didn't know why I was trusting a guy that I just met, but I still went to the couple that danced in the middle of the dance floor.

I reached them when the song ended, and a new song began. Slow melody, that was a good sign.

"Will you dance with me tonight?"

Nirvana turned to me with a surprised expression, but almost immediately accepted my hand, slightly blushed.

I could see Romeo's almost murderous expression, however, I didn't pay attention. I was too busy taking my girl by her waist.

Now that I read that, I do sound like a jerk. Oh, well.

In fact, the song was slow, it even was in English. Mentally I thanked Enrique de los Santos, and I dedicated a small smile at him when I saw him dancing with his daughter.

"Thanks for coming, seriously" whispered Nirvana, sighing when resting her head on my shoulder. "I know you're not really fun-loving..."

"Are you calling me 'boring'?" I questioned, feigning an offended tone. "That's my limit, let's break up."

Nirvana gave a mischievous chuckle at that, and quickly shook her head, turning away to look at me. She struggled to stretch high enough to kiss me.

"Noah, I lo..."

The sound of a bullet slicing the air interrupted her.

Both of us startled at that, and I tightened my grip on her waist instinctively, before seeking the source of the commotion.

Suddenly, all the guests were running around, screaming at full horror. And it was no wonder, bullets streaked the air dangerously.

I could clearly see Enrique de los Santos firing a weapon against a couple of guys, formally dressed, probably to get lost in the crowd.

Beside him, the other members of his family also had guns, and had formed a kind of barrier in front of Nirvana and me.

Suddenly someone grabbed Nirvana by her arm and took her away, before giving me a push.

"Elena will take you home, you gotta get out of here!" Romeo yelled, trying to be heard while keeping Nirvana beside him, still firing his gun. "She stays with me!"

"Why?!" I snapped, though a young lady took my arm and tried to pull me away.

"Because I can protect her!"

I was in complete silence for a second time that night, until an excruciating pain in my stomach made me shriek.

I looked down, and regretted it. Warm blood began to flow from the wound, and didn't cease even when I tried to stop it with my hand.

"Noah, no!"

Nirvana's cry was agonizing, and sounded even louder than all the bullets that were being fired.

I could see her trying to approach me while my view was clouded and the pain continued. The girl next to me was still trying to get me out of there, but my knees trembled.

I could only hear another scream and a couple of bullets before falling to the ground in a pool of my own blood.

* * *

*lame suspense music plays again* (?)

Hi!

Did you miss me? No? Anyone? Okay :c

I'm really sorry about the delay, but I have been somewhat blocked at the time of writing this fic. I don't know why. I'll try to continue this fic within a week, but if this isn't possible, you know why: /

Now, it's time to answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Hey, thanks! Noah's human side is a nice thing to write and read!

Artemis Raven Courtney: I know! Guess Scarlett gets really bored at night!

GoldEmblem: Maybe. Who knows?

The Abysswalker: It was intended to be a little bit of humor, but... well, yeah, I guess you could expect that.

Ali6132: Thank you! I know, I just wanted to add some humor to the chapter. Aw, thank you! I thought it was pretty sweet too. Bye!

Well, I guess that's all for now. Take care, you're loved.

Read you soon!

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	25. Full disclosure

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

Full disclosure

* * *

I woke up with a splitting headache, and the fact that the curtains in the window allowed the sunshine to light the room didn't help.

I let out a low growl, my brow furrowed slightly while looking away from the sun. I couldn't see clearly, but I could tell that all the walls were painted in neat white.

As my sight began to clear, I noticed that I was certainly in a hospital room. And I should've seen it coming, now that I remember where I was when I lost consciousness.

I tried to straighten up a little, but a hand laid gently on my shoulder and sank me back into the bed.

"Good morning, Noah" greeted a soft female voice, and I could finally see a young nurse beside me. "You better relax, the doctor will be here soon. He'll be happy to see you awake."

I let out a tired sigh, moving in my place a little, uncomfortably. My brow furrowed slightly.

"What... what happened?"

"You were attacked by a street gang, you got shot in the stomach" she informed me, with a small grimace of sympathy. "We were able to get an urgent blood transfusion for you, and Dr. Anderson predicted that this morning you would wake up. And he was right!"

I felt like laughing under my breath at her explanation. Street gang story wasn't that far, if you change them for a group of gangsters.

I looked around, and saw a bag with a coat resting on a chair near my bed. And I recognized them instantly, my mom had been here.

"Nirvana..." I muttered, swallowing and trying to straighten up again. "Where is Nirvana?"

"You mean the young redhead girl?" she questioned the nurse, and I could only nod slightly. "She left at dawn today... but gave me a letter, she asked me to give it to you. Give me a moment..."

I watched her look for it in the pockets of her uniform, feeling a growing anxiety in my chest. However, at that moment, the so-called Dr. Anderson came through the door.

He checked my vitals, made a lot of notes on a tablet and congratulated me for being alive.

I just wanted to read the damn letter.

He informed me that my family had been here, and my mother was in the hospital café, having breakfast.

When he finally finished talking to me, I strongly asked for a moment to be alone. The nurse (Tammy, as she said) gave me the letter.

I was about to open it, until I heard the unmistakable angry screams of my mother.

"Why the hell nobody told me that my son is awake?! I should be the first to know...!"

I made a little grimace at her voice resound in my ears, until she entered the room. Followed by my father, my siblings and my cousin.

"Noah!"

"Noah, you're alive!"

"Mom, Dave owes me twenty dollars!"

Their voices soon began to irritate me, and I sighed heavily, rubbing a hand on my face.

"Um... Blain family, I can't allow so many people visit the patient at a time" warned the doctor, with a small awkward grin on his face. "I'll have to ask you to leave, you can take turns to visit Noah..."

"Everybody get out!" ordered my mother, approaching me to stroke my hair. "I'll stay with him."

"Actually... I would like to be alone. Please."

The horrified and hurt look I got from my mother might have made her feel guilty, but not in that moment. The nurse patted her shoulder gently.

"Ma'am, you better give him some privacy. He just woke up, and has a letter to read."

I appreciated the intervention of the young nurse, but not the suspicious look my mother gave me.

"It's true... you never told me about your 'little friend' Nirvana" she muttered, narrowing her eyes. "We'll talk about that..."

"Later, Mom. By the way, my engagement was false. Nirvana is my girlfriend."

Her horrified expression was priceless, but my father made sure to take her out of the room, winking.

Soon Dr. Anderson and nurse Tammy took everyone out of the room, and I mentally thanked for that.

When at last I was alone, I dared to open the letter. Its calligraphy was messy and hasty, I was sure it was Nirvana's.

* * *

If you're reading this, it's because you woke up today, as Dr. Anderson said. What good doctor, right? And what a cliché way to start a letter.

Anyway, I'm just rambling.

If I wrote this letter, it's because I am a coward, and I could never tell you this in your face. Because my soul would fall to the ground before I start talking.

What happened in the party was one of the many ways in which everything could go wrong from the start. I shouldn't talk to you, not even accept to meet you. I should never have let this go this far.

Sorry. I didn't choose to be born in this hell, but I dragged you with me. I was selfish in doing so, and seriously, I'm sorry.

I don't want you to suffer, or you risk your life. You have years, decades ahead without me. It's the best for you.

Don't try to find me, you won't find me. Don't try to call me, I won't answer. This is it.

You don't need this. You don't need me.

I love you. I will remember you every day, and I'll be happy knowing you have a quiet and "normal" life. Take care, and this sacrifice won't be in vain.

Goodbye.

PS: By the way, you can finish reading our book, if you wish. I'll be reading it with you, wherever you are.

* * *

My mother attributed my lack of appetite and defeatist expression to the trauma that the attack of the gang had caused in me. And because of that supposed trauma, I also saved myself from her sermon.

For almost a week, I received visits from all my brothers, my uncles with my cousin Dave, Owen, Izzy, Eva, Cody, even Gwen and Courtney made me a visit. However, I was in no mood to talk to anyone.

I waited for Nirvana to change her mind, to come through the door, with her wild red curls and her lovely smile.

But that never happened.

Gradually I had to get used to the idea that she would never return. Gradually, I understood that this was the end of everything. Our deadline.

One Friday night, in which I had begun to write a draft for a novel in a notebook, Tammy announced me a visit.

I assumed it would be Owen, or maybe Dave. Until she said it was a red-haired girl, who almost demanded to see me.

Then I immediately asked for her to come in...

... only to be disappointed once again.

Scarlett was watching me from the door of the room, clutching to her chest a manila envelope.

* * *

Hi!

Another reference to Steven Universe? Where? (?)

Yep, I know I'm late again ... writer's block, fucking writer's block :c

Anyway, I'll answer your reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thanks! Well, here they are!

Artemis Raven Courtney: And yet another cliffhanger! Guess Noah never learns.

Ali6132: Thank you... I'm sorry! I had to make that happen sooner or later. Here's next chapter, please don't die. Bye!

OppsieDasi: ... Alright then!

The Abysswalker: Ah, I know, Romeo is kinda... yeah. Well, I'll try to save this story from hiatus!

YamazakiWolf: Thank you! Hope you like this chapter!

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to update soon, but I can't promise anything.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	26. You shall not kill your neighbor

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't my first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let me know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

* * *

You shall not kill your neighbor

* * *

"Why are you here?" I asked, turning my attention back to my draft with a sigh. "Are you going to laugh at me because you have always been right? Too late, I did it myself."

Scarlett quickly shook her head as she approached the table, but had a tiny smirk on her face.

"I warned you" she recalled, slightly shrugging her shoulders. "But I'm glad you're alive."

"That's nice of you" I mumbled, scratching an entire paragraph with my pen. "Now, tell me what you want and get out."

I could see Scarlett roll her eyes, before settling into the chair next to the bed with a sigh of resignation.

"I came to clarify that Max had no responsibility for the attack. They were orders from his father" she said, pulling out of her bag a kind of scroll. "And I came to bring you this."

"What is that? A treasure map?"

She laughed under her breath at that, and just opened the folded paper.

"Something like that, actually" she muttered, placing the paper in front of me, on my lap. "These are maps for the Tennorman mansion, updated less than a month ago by an expert and corrupt engineer."

I gave her a look of surprise mixed with disbelief, before noticing the maps. They were definitely professionals, even a little confusing.

"I recommend that you study them very carefully before making any move, one misstep could..."

"Why are you doing this?" I interrupted, watching carefully, warily

Scarlett blinked a few times, confused, before letting out a tired sigh, rubbing a hand on her face.

"Max received a call from Nirvana, she called for a truce and claimed you were out of it, officially" she sputtered, gaining a slightly uncomfortable grimace. "But then I thought... you risked your life since you started talking to her, and you kept doing so even when you found out everything. Her decision ends where yours begins."

I remained silent for a moment, only looking into her eyes. It didn't feel like I was seeing the same Scarlett that proposed me to share an apartment. I was seen the Scarlett that had hidden behind her all this time.

And I couldn't help but smile honestly.

"Thank you, Scarlett."

"Don't get cheesy with me."

We both laughed a little at that, just for a few minutes until she finally cleared her throat to get my attention, pointing to the map.

"You can't do it alone. You need two physically strong individuals, and a distraction" she continued, getting a serious and technical expression. "And obviously, don't make the idiocy of escaping from the hospital to do it. Wait until you recover completely."

She pointed to a specific room reflected on paper, and I quickly marked it with my pen.

"That's Nirvana's room, where they plan to keep her for now. Most likely they won't make any changes for a while, to avoid attracting anyone's attention" she summarized, before letting out a long sigh of self-satisfaction. Shr smiled a little. "I guess now it is a treasure map, right?"

I could only smile slightly, and nodded once. Tammy returned to the room, informed us that visiting hours were over, and that Dr. Anderson was coming to see me in fifteen minutes.

"Keep this hidden, and study it in your free-time" Scarlett advised, standing up. "It's time for me to leave."

"Something tells me you don't mean only leavening the hospital."

Scarlett made a little uncomfortable grimace at that, and just patted my shoulder gently.

"It's been a pleasure meeting you" she admitted formally offering me her hand. "I wish you luck, even when luck doesn't exist, and what you need is intelligence and strategy."

"Good luck for you too" I assured her, giving her hand a friendly squeeze. "Will you tell me where you're going?"

"No one will know. Not even Max."

That sounded like a warning, and I could only nod again, tacitly giving my word not to talk about it with anyone else.

Scarlett left the room with a half smile, and I could only take a closer look at the map before hiding it.

I know what I'll do when I get out of here.

* * *

"Last Saturday, young college student Scarlett Stone was declared missing" announced the newsman at five, while a photograph of the psycho redhead appeared on screen. "Miss Stone, former participant of the reality show 'Total Drama: Pahkitew Island', is being sought desperately by her family and friends. If you see her, please call..."

I turned off the TV with a weary sigh.

That hospital room became more and more unbearable. In the words of Dr. Anderson, I would go home in a couple of weeks.

I wanted to go right away.

My mother continued to visit me whenever she could. I convinced her to go home, and she agreed when the doctor assured her that I was improving rapidly.

To amuse myself, I started writing this novel that was only a draft. It wasn't very good, but I did what I could.

Days passed very, very slowly.

One day, nurse Tammy told me I had a visitor. Without paying much attention, I told her to let the person come in.

My bad.

I heard the door close, a few steps getting closer, and one person sat in the chair next to my bed, on a safe distance. I looked up to see him.

There was Max. Quietly he got a gun from his jacket. I couldn't say anything, I just observed him put a silencer on his gun. Finally he looked at me.

"I have two questions for you. The second one depends on your answer to the first one" he said, with a relaxed tone that definitely didn't suit the situation. "Number one, where's Scarlett?"

I couldn't answer right away, I was still a bit dazed. However, when he removed the safety catch, so I gulped nervously.

"I have no idea" I assured him, trying to make my voice sound relaxed when I wasn't feeling that way.

"Wrong answer. Number two, where do you want the first bullet?"

I didn't doubt that he was serious. After seeing him killing these two guys without batting an eye, I knew he could do the same with me.

I brought my hands to my face, frustrated. I sighed heavily.

"I mean it. I don't know where she is, why would I?" I muttered, trying to appeal to his common sense to save my life

"Because you lived with her, and I know she trusted you" he said, shrugging as if this wasn't important. "Now tell me where she is. I'm running out of patience."

"She's missing. That means no one knows where she is."

Max laughed under his breath at that, but obviously it wasn't an honest laugh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm down.

"She left. I know it" he said, massaging his temple with a exasperated grin. "He wanted to leave, step aside, away from this... but I didn't let her."

"And haven't you asked yourself why she left?"

He looked at me, arching an eyebrow. He shook his head slightly.

"No. But if you know, you need to talk."

"I don't know" I lied, again, trying to make my voice as firm as I could. "Believe me, I wouldn't risk my life to cover her back."

Max looked at me again, looking for some sign in my body language that could give me away. He apparently didn't find it, and with a sigh, he stood up.

"I guess I have no choice but to believe you" he murmured, keeping his gun in his jacket. "But believe me, if I ever find out you lied... the next shot won't be in the stomach."

* * *

Max acts badass, but we all know he's just a little purple princess (?)

Hey!

Yep, it's me again. I'm gonna try to make it fast, I don't have time. Sorry :c

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thanks! I know, right? It had to happen sooner or later.

Artemis Raven Courtney: Well, here's your answer!

The Abysswalker: Yeah, I just thought Noah would do something like that. Here's what she wants!

The-new-face-in-town: Oh, yeah, almost forgot about that.

That's all for now, folks.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


	27. Chronicle of an Ending Foretold

Disclaimer: Total Drama series doesn't belong to me but to Jennifer Perth and Tom McGill. I write for fun, not for money and blah, blah, blah ...

Summary: If you got here waiting for another supposedly romantic story with trashy humor and cheap sexually explicit scenes, please, don't even start reading. Thank you. Insert-sarcastic-remark-here, Noah. / Post-series.

Warning: English isn't our first language. It's Spanish. If you notice any grammatical error or something like that, please let us know. Thank you!

Cover by Ringo-Tensai. Thank you so much!

Chapter co-written with Umeki-Nara, with a little plot-twist at the end.

* * *

Chronicle of an Ending Foretold

* * *

"You definitely gone crazy, right?"

I was expecting those words of encouragement from Eva, when I told her about my plan.

It was quite simple, actually. I would get out of that stupid hospital in a few days, and using the map that Scarlett had given me, I would quietly sneak into the Tennorman mansion to see Nirvana.

It couldn't be that hard, right?

"Of course we will help you!" Izzy exclaimed excitedly. "It will be a breeze! With peanut butter!"

"Yeah, buddy, I'm sure it'll be easy" Owen added, raising his thumb in a gesture of approval. "Furthermore, true love always finds a way to succeed!"

I watched with a small smile the way Owen and Izzy giggled together, looking at each other with affection.

Eva snorted.

"All of you have lost your heads" she snapped, crossing her arms firmly. "Don't even think that I'll risk my life that way."

"All right, I'll do it without you" I mumbled, shrugging quietly. "I won't force you to anything."

"But then who will be the distraction?"

I gave Owen an incredulous look before rolling my eyes, kinda exasperated.

"You'll be the distraction" I clarified, sighing wearily. "Izzy will come with me, and knock out anyone who gets in our way."

"And I'll kill them, and I'll eat their guts!"

"That won't be necessary..."

Izzy laughed mischievously at that, shrugging. For a moment, I feared for the lives of those who stand in our way.

Eva was silent, watching me, as if waiting for me to recant. But I wouldn't do it. Apparently, she knew, so she sighed heavily.

"If I die, I'll kill you."

I couldn't help but laugh a little at that, to which Owen joined almost immediately. Izzy managed to embrace us all at once, and that sealed the deal.

There was no turning back. There had never been.

* * *

When left the hospital, I managed to convince my mother that I would be fine staying in the apartment, even when she insisted that I stay at home.

Three days later, I was driving my car in the middle of the night, following the same path that Damon had taken almost three months ago.

I appreciate having such a good memory.

"Owen, I know the pizza was your idea, but don't eat it yet."

My friend let out a giggle at my words, but nodded, clothed in that pizza delivery uniform he had used years before to work.

Honestly, I had thought of taking him out of the plan, but he seemed so excited to get his uniform and that idea taken from a cliché film that I couldn't just say no.

The Tennorman mansion was really huge, and as we just arrived, I made sure to park the car in a secluded and hidden place.

As Owen neared the huge gates and distracted the guards with a free pizza, Eva, Izzy and I entered with a metal ladder they had brought.

I admit, that physical effort left me on the verge of returning to the hospital with my lungs destroyed. And that was just beginning.

"Come on, Noah, it wasn't so hard!"

Izzy's voice rang in my ears, but I could only give her a glare, almost breathless.

"Let's go, you don't want me to carry you, right?" scoffed Eva, patting me on the shoulder.

I sighed deeply, straightening completely.

"You're lucky I can't think of anything clever to say right now" I mumbled, before pulling out of my pocket the neatly folded map. "As it says here, we should go west..."

"Let's go then!"

I wanted to ask Izzy to lower her voice, but she had already walked away and I didn't want to run after her.

Eva ran after Izzy, patting my backbone a way that made me cough a little bit.

I began to follow them, now with the sore shoulder, and began to review the map. We stopped when the hall came to an end and there were two different ways.

"We must go to the left" I said, pointing the way. "It's the third room."

Izzy gave a mischievous laugh, and ran before us.

I could see Eva rubbing a hand over her face, in frustration, and I mentally imitated her gesture.

Finally we stopped at the door, and both of them looked at me, waiting for me to move.

With a nervous sigh, I opened the door.

There was a chair in front of a window, and it gave us the back. I stepped forward, admiring the norme and luxurious decoration.

But then a figure rose from the chair. And turned around.

That definitely wasn't Nirvana. In fact, it was my least favorite person.

Justin.

"Look, it's Justin!"

"Yeah, Izzy, as we can see him."

The supermodel with air instead of a brain stood up, and crossed his arms firmly.

'You are not Mr. Tennorman" he said then, narrowing his eyes.

"No shit, Sherlock" I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose hard. "You gotta be kidding me..."

He rolled his eyes, and took a couple of steps forward. He smiled slightly.

"I'm not kidding when I say that I'd probably would be paid better if I tell security about you guys."

I frowned. I had no doubt that Justin would be able to betray us even if he didn't receive any money. I was about to say something, but Eva stepped forward.

"Let's see if you dare, supermodel" muttered and turned slightly toward us. "You go on, I'll take care of him."

"But I want to see...!"

"Come on, Izzy" I mumbled, taking her wrist and almost dragging her out of the room.

I checked the map again, with a look of frustration on my face. I didn't understand if I was wrong or Scarlett had indicated me the wrong room.

I preferred to think it was the latter.

Izzy suddenly covered my mouth with her hand, then pointed down the hall.

There was Nirvana, too distracted by the screen of her phone, and entering a room.

Izzy smiled.

"I think it's there."

We approached the room quietly and I tacitly had to give credit to Scarlett. In the end it wasn't her fault, she definitely had indicated Nirvana's room.

Nirvana entered the room that had her brother's name roughly painted on the room.

I made a signal to Izzy so she would keep silent, after all we didn't know if Tennorman was still there.

But it was too late. Izzy had already entered abruptly and had covered Nirvana's mouth with a sock.

I could see her terrified expression before she saw me, acquiring one of complete surprise.

"Izzy, let her go!" I muttered, closing the door when I noticed that his brother wasn't there.

Izzy laughed a little, before doing so. Nirvana coughed, clearing her throat, before turning to me.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" she snapped, looking at me with a mixture of fear and frustration. "My brother will come back anytime!"

"Then we must hurry. Come on" I shrugged, as downplaying the fact that we were in a mansion of mobsters.

Nirvana was incredulous and soon began to shake her head.

"Don't you understand your situation? This time they will kill you" she murmured, horrified at the idea.

"No, you don't understand! You go away, leave a stupid letter behind, and expect me to forget about it. I don't work like that!"

A little awkward silence was formed, in which we only looked at each other at the face, to see who faltered first.

Izzy cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"Should I leave you guys alone...?"

I continued looking at Nirvana, waiting. When she slowly lowered her distressed gaze, I sighed resignedly.

I only had one last card up my sleeve, and I had never been a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh.

"I practically canceled my engagement, my mother knows that you and I..."I left the sentence in the air, and she seemed to understand.

She didn't want to, but finally smiled a little, blushing slightly.

She sighed heavily.

"Come on, he's a cutie pie" said Izzy, also more relaxed

I was about to say something to contradict her, but then the bedroom door opened abruptly.

Damon Tennorman watched us intently, before pulling a radio out of his pocket.

"Security, I have intruders in my room" he murmured, frowning slightly.

I couldn't help but smile a little, because after all I wasn't alone this time.

As I guessed, Izzy approached Tennorman and covered his face with a pillowcase, tying him with tape around him to keep him quiet.

I quickly turned to Nirvana and held out my hand, while Izzy ran around Damon, tying him with tape.

"Are you coming or not? Just do it."

She doubted it for a moment, and reached out to take my hand, only to move away a second later.

"Go away, Noah. Go away now."

I could almost hear the sound of my heart, soul, will, or whatever it's called, breaking into a million pieces.

Perhaps it was the tears shining in her blue eyes, or the broken tone of her voice. But I knew right then that it was the end.

There was nothing I could do. Just deal with it.

I could hear the footsteps of the guards in the corridor, and after giving her one last look of disbelief, I took Izzy's arm and left the room.

I could see Eva run away, and just followed her without thinking too much, on the same path we took to get inside.

We left behind the metal stairs when we were outside the mansion, and continued running on a kind of adrenaline start.

When we got into the car, I let out a sigh, wearily. My eyes burned, wet, but I refused to drop any tears.

Owen gave me a glance, and apparently understood everything at my expression, so he simply started the engine and we quickly moved away from the place.

Nobody said a word, not even Izzy, who almost never shut up. And mentally I thanked their silence.

I preferred to keep everything I was feeling inside, and leave nothing out. I had come to that situation.

I should've stayed with what that letter said. At least it didn't have the sad look in her blue eyes printed on it.

* * *

And that's the end, thanks everyone!

No, not really. But there's only a few chapters left though.

Sorry for the long wait, I was... lazy? I guess that's the word. I'll try to finish this fanfic, for real.

Now, to the reviews.

Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thanks, again! And yeah, that's right!

Artemis Raven Courtney: Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't.

The Abysswalker: Yeah, I guess...

Okay, that's all for now. Take care.

Read you soon!

* * *

_-*-_-*-_KovatePrivalski97._-*-_-*-_


End file.
